The Science of Deception
by quail58
Summary: AU. Rin gets herself in too deep when she owes Sesshomaru her life.
1. Intro

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the anime or manga.

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Kagome walked into her dorm room and threw her book bag onto the floor as she told Rin, "Hey." With an exasperated sigh she threw herself onto her bed and screamed into the comforter.

"I take it that you and Inuyasha had another fight," Rin observed without even looking up from her book. Her voice was emotionless since she was used to this type of behavior from her roommate. "Either you are going to have to make him yours, or you'll just have to give him up to Kikyo."

"I'm never giving him up to Kikyo!" Kagome said defiantly as she sat up and on her knees. "She's only hitting on him to keep him from being with me. She's always competing with me for whatever it is that I want."

"And I've told you before that you should try to take something of hers," Rin observed flatly.

"But I don't want anything of hers," Kagome whined as she face planted into the bed again.

Rin sighed out of exhaustion. She dearly cared about her friend, but this was getting to be an every day conversation. "If you won't, then I'll find someone who will."

Kagome straightened up again and put her fists on her hips. "Like who?"

"I don't know yet," Rin admitted to her. "At least I'm not suggesting that you fight Sango for Miroku. What does she see in him anyway?" It was quite funny that Sango, who seemed the most no-nonsense person in their band of friends was the one who was madly in love with the guy who continually flirted with every woman he came across except for her.

"I guess he can be suave sometimes," Kagome suggested. She had her index pressed against her chin as she appeared deep in thought.

Rin burst out into an uncontrollable laughter and managed to somehow say "To everyone else but her" between breaths. Kagome soon joined her in a more lighthearted laugh.

As they were calming down there was a knock on their door. Kagome jumped up from her bed since she was closer to the door and opened it up to find Sango on the other side. Once again Rin erupted in laughter, to which Kagome followed laughing harder than before. Sango just stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and an unamused look on her face. When Rin's laughter finally died down a couple of minutes later Sango said, "I know are laughing at me, and I don't want to know what about. I can only guess it has something to do with Miroku." She took a seat on Kagome's computer chair and crossed her arms again to show she was not amused.

"Oh, come on," Kagome said giggling. "You have to admit that it's kind of odd that you like him."

"Maybe," Sango observed. She didn't exactly enjoy it when people made fun of her about it though. "Well, what are we doing tonight?" she asked them trying to change the subject. "It's Friday night, and the last thing I want to do is sit in the dorms tonight."

"How about we sit around at Inuyasha's house," Rin suggested winking at Kagome, who then threw her pillow at Rin. "Oh, come on. He's the only one not living in the dorms, and yet we always hang out here."

Kagome informed her in a rather somber voice, "Because Sesshomaru hangs out there over the weekend. He's got no life." They were all well aware of Sesshomaru's dislike of humans. As the Lord of the Western Lands, his life had pretty much been the center of the media's attention since his birth. And although he looked a lot like his father, the Emperor of the Western Lands, he was nothing at all like his father. Inuyasha tended to behave more like his carefree father, but Inuyasha's temper was something else to be desired. Perhaps, though, their similar personalities explained why Inuyasha too had two women fighting over him like his father did.

"Well, Inuyasha is always talking about how he isn't afraid of Sesshomaru," she contended as she put an evil smile on her face. "It is supposed to snow tonight. Maybe even have blizzard conditions. If he came over here he would have to stay in the dorms tonight. He could always share Kagome's bed."

Kagome picked up one of her books and chucked it at Rin's head as hard as she could but Rin moved out of the way in time. "That's not funny!" she yelled aloud. "Besides, that would mean that you have to stay the night somewhere else."

Rin put on a cheery smile and said, "I could sleep in Sango's bed since she'll be sharing Miroku's bed."

Sango sat up straight in her chair and asked Kagome for an object to throw at Rin in protest. Just as Rin opened the door to escape the flying pens and books Miroku appeared in their doorway. The other two girls stopped their actions mid-throw, so Rin ran out the door and to the bathroom. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked with a hint in his voice. He took Kagome's hand in his own and said to her, "If you ever need someone to protect you, please feel free to ask me." Sango's face turned red as she took the book in her hand and connected it with the top of Miroku's head causing a knot to form. What she didn't know was that he flirted openly in front of her to make her jealous. "Geez, you didn't need to hit me that hard," he complained as he rubbed the top of his head.

"What do you want, Miroku?" Sango crossly with her arms crossed over her chest.

He smiled at her and announced, "Inuyasha has invited all four of us over for the weekend. He said that Sesshomaru will be at home all weekend. He also said that since there will be a blizzard coming, just bring a couple of days worth of clothes, your pillows, and anything else you might need." Sango stood there waiting for Miroku to make some perverted comment, but he wouldn't since he knew she was expecting it.

"Are you serious?" Rin asked from behind Miroku.

He turned to look at her and said, "He said he'll pick us all up around five."

"That's only a half an hour away," Kagome said frantically as she started pulling out her over night bag and packing things away furiously. Sango left the room to go pack and Miroku followed behind her. They didn't get far down the hallway before Kagome and Rin heard Sango slap him across the cheek.

At five o'clock Inuyasha pulled up to the front of their dorm and honked the horn a couple of times out of impatience. Kagome was the first to come running out of the dorm and into the steady snowfall. Inuyasha didn't even get out of the car but popped open his trunk so they could throw their bags and pillows in. They all packed into the car with their Styrofoam containers carrying their dinners from the dorm's cafeteria. Inuyasha sped out of the drive and down the road. Since he was the Prince of the Western Lands, cops didn't pull him over for speeding or reckless driving so he normally could care less if anyone else in his car complained about his driving.

Once they got there he helped Kagome with her bag, which then lead to Miroku having to carry Sango's bag. Rin held her own and carried everything she had brought in her two hands. They spent the night watching some of the newest movies out on DVD and making fun of each other. The snow started piling up outside so they all stayed overnight. There was only one guest room with a double bed, so he offered it to Sango and Kagome. Rin took the couch, and Miroku slept on Inuyasha's floor.

At three in the morning Sesshomaru had grown tired of working on some of his father's paperwork. He had advisers for this who were sleeping. The snow had come down quite heavily, which made him glad he had flown over instead of driving. While most demons these days never used their demon abilities, he still felt the need to occasionally use them. "Father, I'm going back to school. I have things to work on there."

"I didn't force you to come and help out," his father reminded him. "Feel free to leave whenever you want." InuTashio was too busy looking over his own paperwork he didn't even have time to really pay attention to what Sesshomaru was doing.

Once outside Sesshomaru transformed himself into a ball of energy and flew through the skies at twice the speed of a car allowing him to get back to his home at college in only half the time. Once he got inside he noticed the smell of humans in his house. From what he could tell, there were four of them. One was his best friend, Miroku, who often dared to step into his house. The other were quite familiar smells to him since he often hung out with the remaining three. As he flipped on the light to the living room he heard a groan coming from the couch. "Kagome, stop turning on the light when you get up to go to the bathroom," a sleepy, female voice said. When he didn't respond Rin opened her eyes and noticed this was not her dorm room. Slowly she looked up to see a very angry dog demon standing over her. "Uh, hi," she said trying to defuse the situation. She was now wide awake. "Inuyasha said you would be gone this weekend, and we couldn't get back to the dorm in all of this snow."

Sesshomaru just growled and then walked to his brother's room. To get to his brother's bed he had to step over Miroku, but at this point he didn't care enough to step over him and instead stepped on Miroku waking him up. Once at his brother's bedside he reached out a hand and grabbed Inuyasha by the throat. Inuyasha's eyes flew open as he gasped for breath. "I told you that I didn't want you bring people over to my house." His eyes were growing red in his anger.

Inuyasha struggled to get out of his brother's grip but failed since his brother always did have more brute strength. Sesshomaru could hear behind him the woman from the living room running into the room. "I'm sorry," she apologized to him. "We'll leave if you want. Just don't take it out on him."

Sesshomaru looked at her face briefly to see that she was indeed terrified for Inuyasha's life. "You're girlfriend has saved your hide for now, but I better never see any of them over here again. They are to leave in the morning." He released Inuyasha, who fell back onto his bed.

"She's not my girlfriend," Inuyasha informed Sesshomaru. "And she has a name."

Sesshomaru ignored Inuyasha and stormed out the door and down the hallway to his room slamming the door behind him. "I'm sorry," Rin apologized to Inuyasha.

"What in the hell do you have to be sorry about?" he asked her gruffly. "Except that you interrupted my fight with him. Next time leave me alone." He only said those words out of a bruised ego, but Rin didn't know that. She hung her head and head back to the living room to gather her clothes. She changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a heavy sweatshirt in the bathroom before putting on her coat and shoes and heading out into the blizzard.

The next morning Kagome woke up and raced into the bathroom before Inuyasha woke up to make herself beautiful. Afterwards she went out to living hoping she could hang out there since Rin always woke up before her, but she didn't find Rin nor any of Rin's things. One couldn't even tell by the looks of the room that Rin had even been there. Kagome barged into Inuyasha's room and woke up both guys by shouting, "Rin's not here!"

Both guys woke with a start. They were not having any luck getting any sleep this weekend already. Miroku thought over last night and remembered that he had heard the front door of the house open last night. "I did hear someone leave last night, but I thought it was Sesshomaru leaving again."

"What? Sesshomaru's here?" she asked in a panic.

"Yeah, didn't you hear him last night?" Inuyasha asked rubbing his neck. Kagome's face revealed the she had obviously slept through the whole ordeal. "How could you sleep through that?" he asked irritated.

"Sango slept through it also."

Miroku thought it best to now cut off a fight and get to business. "Sesshomaru came home last night and came in here threatening Inuyasha. Rin begged Sesshomaru to leave Inuyasha alone, so he did stating that we had to be out of here in the morning. Then Inuyasha yelled at Rin. I told Inuyasha he should go apologize, but obviously he didn't. I'm guessing that she left for the dorms. Inuyasha, you should probably go look for her since you can get through the snow better."

"And why is that?" Inuyasha asked snidely. "Because I'm a dog?"

"No, because you are a half-demon and can run so fast that you don't sink in." Inuyasha looked at the determined faces of Kagome and Miroku and figured that it was best for him not to complain and just go look for her. He quickly dressed in a pair of sweats and sneakers and ran outside. He was halfway back to the dorm when he found her frozen body. By the looks of her it wasn't the cold that had lead to her demise but some hungry wolves.

Feeling guilty he carried her corpse back to the house and laid it down in his bathtub. Kagome stood over him yelling at him about how careless his words were between sobs. Sango at this point was also awake and trying not to cry. Just then Inuyasha remembered that his father had given Sesshomaru a sword that brought humans back to life with just one stroke. The only problem was, he gave it to Sesshomaru, who was the only person who could wield it. This would take some negotiating to get him to help them out.

Sesshomaru had heard the moaning from the woman. He had been awake for an hour and was frankly tired of the unwanted guests. And now there was a dead woman lying in their house. Shortly after his door opened to reveal a very pissed off Inuyasha. "This is all your fault," he tried to blame Sesshomaru while pointing a finger at him. "She wouldn't have left if you hadn't scared her off."

"I think you are mistaken," Sesshomaru said in his dead tone. "You were the one who yelled at her for helping you out." He turned his back on his brother as he looked at his computer again.

Inuyasha knew he wasn't going to win this way since his brother was probably right. "Okay, but I know that you can save her with the Tenseiga."

"I won't save a human with that sword."

"You will if I call Dad," Inuyasha said using his last card. "He'll make you."

"And what if I don't?" Sesshomaru was growing very impatient with him.

"He'll just name me heir."

Sesshomaru mentally rolled his eyes before saying, "He is already holding another threat over my head in that regard."

"Fine, then I will call Dad and we'll see what else he can do."

He picked up the cordless phone sitting in Sesshomaru's room and started to dial the speed dial when Sesshomaru finally gave in. "Fine, but you will owe me for this."

"Yeah, whatever," he said as he rolled his eyes. He watched as his half-brother stood up and approached the sword that was mounted on the wall. To this point Sesshomaru had been unable to use the sword since it was quite useless except for resurrecting humans, and to this date he hadn't found a human worthy of using it on.

Tenseiga pulsed in his hand as soon as he unsheathed it. The sword knew its exact purpose at this moment. As Sesshomaru walked into Inuyasha's bathroom the two girls he hadn't seen and Miroku parted for him to get in. The young woman's body lay in the bathtub horribly torn up. He was thankful that the blood was frozen inside of her or it would have bleed over the carpets as Inuyasha carried it in. Above the woman on the edge of the tub he could see little demons working steadily on something. He assumed these to be the workers from the underworld, so he sliced through them watching as they dissolved into the air.

Rin's body began to heal itself quickly, and as soon as it healed she took in a breath. Her eyes opened to see Sesshomaru standing over the tub. She covered up her body noticing that her clothes had been badly torn. Inside Sesshomaru smirked at the thought that she now needed to cover herself when it was just the parts of her body that were perfectly fine for everyone to see. Humans had such odd behaviors. "What happened?" she asked.

Sesshomaru walked out of the room leaving everyone stunned except for Inuyasha. He pulled Inuyasha into the hallway and said in a low tone so that the humans could not hear, "You owe me."

"What in the hell do you want?"

Sesshomaru knew exactly what he should ask for, but it wasn't going to be easy saying the words. "Father's deal."

Inuyasha gulped knowing full well what this wold mean. He had been responsible for Rin's death, and now he would be responsible for shattering her future dreams. "Fine. I'll talk to her about it." Sesshomaru went back to his room leaving Inuyasha alone in the hallway. Kagome walked out to the hallway and hugged him out of relief. "Kagome, it's not exactly as easy as you think this is."

"But you got Sesshomaru to save her! That was amazing!"

He pushed her to an arm's length away from him. "I had to promise something that I don't think she'll like."

"What?" Kagome asked concerned. The look on Inuyasha's face made her nervous. What kind of deal could he have made?

Sango hit Miroku for making a comment on seeing Rin's skin, which brought Miroku out into the hallway. Kagome grabbed the bag that she had packed for she and Rin and grabbed some of Rin's things out so that Rin could take a shower and then dress in something more appropriate.

By the time she got out of the bathroom from handing Rin her things she found Inuyasha back in his room with Sango and Miroku also sitting in there. She shut the door behind her and sat down on the bed next to him. "What kind of a deal did you make?"

"I didn't know he was going to ask for that!" he exclaimed.

Sango watched as Inuyasha ignored Kagome's looks. "What are you talking about?"

"He made a deal with Sesshomaru," Kagome explained. "In order to get Sesshomaru to save Rin with his sword he agreed to do something."

"Agreed to what?" Miroku now asked.

"He said I would owe him for it, so I agreed because it's better than letting her remain dead. I didn't expect him to want her to marry him."

"What?!" Kagome yelled out loud. Sango and Miroku both looked at Inuyasha mortified.

"Father told him that he had to marry a human woman he loved by the end of the school year in order to inherit the title of Emperor. He hasn't found a human worthy of showing any attention to, but I guess that now he has found someone who will have to agree to a charade in order to help him."

"Why did you agree to that?" Kagome asked as she punched him in the arm.

Inuyasha held her arms together away from him as he barked out, "I told you that I hadn't expected him to ask for that!"

"Ask for what?" Rin asked as she opened the bedroom door. She was now dressed in a new outfit. Her hair was still wet and needed to be combed through. "Who asked for something?"

"Uh," Inuyasha started unsure as to what to say.

Kagome stood up and put her arm around Rin's shoulders. "Inuyasha kind of owes Sesshomaru big time for having Sesshomaru bring you back to life." Kagome glared at Inuyasha before forcing Rin to sit down on the desk chair that Sango had just been occupying.

"What does he want? I owe him a lot for saving me," she explained hopefully to them.

Kagome sighed and said to her, "I guess he's got some condition set up by his father stating that he has to fall in love with a human and marry her before the end of the school year."

"Does he want me to help him find one?" Rin asked her innocently.

"Not exactly."

Kagome glared at Inuyasha again, so this time he finally explained things to Rin. "He wants you to pretend you love him and marry him."

Now it was Rin's time to be shocked as she yelled out "What?! You promised him what?!"

Kagome hugged Rin hoping it would help but fully knowing that nothing could help at this moment. "It's better than being dead."

Rin didn't know if she should attack Kagome first for that comment or Inuyasha first for making the promise. How could they make such a promise? How could she carry off being in love with someone who was the complete opposite of her?

"If you don't agree, he'll probably end your life again and all of ours, I'm sure," Sango commented bluntly. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"So now I have to save everyone else's life?" Rin pushed Kagome away from her and rushed out of the room. She remembered that there was a enclosed back porch in the back of the house, so she sat in there hoping to get some time to think through everything.

This was just too much for her to handle in one day. First she dies, then she is resurrected, and now she's promised in marriage to a demon who completely hated humans!


	2. What did I get myself into?

Sango sat down in a chair near Rin in the patio. "I can't imagine what you're going through right now," she admitted to Rin.

"I don't even know what to think right now," Rin admitted to her friend. "I was so mad at Inuyasha last night I just had to get out of here. If I hadn't I wouldn't be in this predicament."

"But what's done is done," Sango reminded her. "Besides, this could turn out to be a great opportunity for you."

Rin looked at her completely puzzled by what she could mean. "Huh?"

Sango looked towards the window to Inuyasha's room and sighed, "You already know that Sesshomaru will always be faithful to you. And maybe in time you two can learn to be good friends. If I ever get Miroku to settle to down with me, I'll always be worried that he's not going to be faithful to me."

"He's not worth even dating then," Rin said stubbornly. "If you can't trust each other than it'll never work."

"Maybe that's sign your marriage will be successful: you can trust each other."

"...to hate each other," Rin corrected her. "Why me though? He could have nearly any woman in the world, but he picks me."

"Well, you owe him your life." They both heard the sound of someone opening the sliding glass door that opened up into the patio. When they looked up they saw Inuyasha standing there. "I told you to give me some time alone with her," she chided him.

"But I thought that..." He stopped what he was about to say and ducked out once he heard Kagome yelling at him.

The women sat there in silence until the door opened again. Sango was about to yell at Inuyasha when she realized it was the other brother. He stood there in complete silence staring at Sango as if he were trying to tell her something with his eyes. She felt uncomfortable knowing that he had business with Rin that she was not wanted in. "I'll talk to you later, Rin," Sango said getting up and walking past Sesshomaru, who did not even acknowledge her presence.

Rin looked the other direction hoping that he would get the idea that she didn't want to speak to him at the moment. "I have been told that Inuyasha has talked to you."

"Yes." Neither of them knew what to say at that moment, which was a first for Sesshomaru. The woman was attractive, for a human, and she would likely not take advantage of his wealth or power. But she would not be an easy one to convince to help him. "Why me?" she asked him after a minute of silence. He had hoped she wouldn't ask that.

"You owe me your life."

"Just because of that?" She stared him down hoping he might give way even just slightly to what his true intentions were. "You could have any human woman in the world hanging off of your arm, but instead you chose to pick the woman you just happened to save with your special sword?"

He looked at her rather perturbed by her questioning. Just to satisfy her curiosity just this once he informed her, "You will not willingly do it." That struck Rin as rather odd. "If you agree to this you will use what power you will want to use to help others while most women would use it only to further themselves. My father would never agree to a marriage with a woman who doesn't want to help the people." Rin was now actually impressed with his logic. He had thought this out in the very short time he had even known of his existence.

When he turned away from her to leave she called after him, "Wait!" He turned his face to look at her. "If we are going to pull off this elaborate lie, I think we need to discuss the details and get to know each other."

"Just do as I instruct you." He turned his face again to the door in hopes that he could get out of the uncomfortable situation he had just gotten himself into, but she didn't have any intentions of quitting right then.

"I'm not just going to do as you tell me to. First of all, I'm not a child. And second of all, if you want your father to believe that you love me and vice versa you need to listen to what I have to say. You'll never pull it off the way you're doing it." She crossed her arms across her chest to show that she was going to be stubborn about this. He looked at the cross look on her face and inwardly sighed. He didn't mind a challenge, but this was one he was not willing to deal with. "If you're not going to put any effort into this, then I won't either."

He shot her a look that said that he didn't appreciate her tone with him but did sit down in a chair across from her. "What do you need to know?"

"Well, first I think we should discuss when we'll be getting married and when you'll be telling your father about our engagement."

He stayed sitting up straight in hopes that he could escape as soon as possible. "We will meet with my father next Saturday. We will announce it then. He will make the arrangements for the wedding. Is that all?"

Rin cocked her head and wondered how dense he was about emotions and relationships. "What about buying me an engagement ring?" He stared at her blankly. "We need to go out and buy me an engagement ring. It won't be believable without one."

"If I buy you one now the media will leak out the story before we tell my father," he corrected her. She had not taken in consideration that the paparazzi would now be following her around. "We will wait until it has been announced to the public." Rin nodded her head in acknowledgment. "What else do you believe will be needed?" Now he was just going to ask her in hopes that she would hurry up.

"I assume that I'll be moving in here." He didn't say anything or even nod so she assumed that she had been correct. "I still have one year of school left."

"As do I," he informed her.

"Then I guess that won't be a problem. But I do want you to know that I will get a job after graduation because I refuse to sit around all day." He nodded his head slightly as he laughed to himself at how determined she was to think her life would be like any other. "And we do need to get to know a lot about each other. You don't even know my name." He stared blankly at her. "My name is Rin. Rin Arai. I was born to Tadao and Manami Arai. I had three older brothers: Masayuki, Kichiro, and Hiroki. When I was eight I was staying the night at a friends house when some thieves broke into our house. They killed my parents and my brothers. I then grew up in an orphanage." Sesshomaru kicked himself for picking an orphan. She would likely want a family later on, but then he wouldn't have to deal with that for awhile since she wouldn't want to sleep with him when she couldn't even stand being around him.

She continued, "I'm going to college on a full ride scholarship that pays for my tuition, fees, and housing. The rest of the money is what was left over from my family's estate. Next year I was planning on getting student loans."

"There will be no need for that," he informed her.

"Right," she said not sure if she should say 'no' now or not. Deciding that was a better argument later on down the road she told him, "I am allergic to penicillin and tomatoes."

"Do I need to know this much about you?" he questioned her. This was a lot of stuff to learn in only a week.

"Of course you do! Emperor InuTashio probably knew more than that about Empress Izayoi when they first slept together." She noticed the way his eyes flashed in anger at her statement, so she took note not to mention anything about his past if she didn't have to. "Oh, and I love flowers. I decorate things with flowers all of the time. Now, what do I need to know about you?"

"Nothing."

"I can't be in love with you if I know nothing about you," she protested. "Like, what do you do for fun when you aren't working or studying or sword fighting? What's your favorite food? What's your favorite memory? Do you have any friends you are close to?"

"You do not need to know anything more about me except that I do not care to share my life with anyone."

"If you love someone you do share your life with them. You don't have to tell me everything about you, but if I knew a little more about what you are thinking I could understand you enough to fake that you are open with me."

"I hate talking to you about this and I don't care to be married to a human. Is that enough for you?"

Rin threw her arms up in the air and grunted in frustration. "I guess I'll just have to hang around you every free second I have for the next week until you either tell me what I need to know or I figure out what exactly it is that you do."

"You will do no such thing." He stood up and started to walk away from her when he noticed she was now following him. "Leave me be," he commanded her, but she was not just about to roll over and play dead. As he got to his room he slammed the door shut in her face, but she just opened it and walked right in. He pretended as if she were not there, so she took the opportunity to look around. "Don't touch my things," he warned her.

"They'll be my things as soon as we get married," she reminded him. "You might as well get used to me arranging things around the house as I see fit. No one will ever believe that I stay here often with the way you guys keep it. It's too plain, and you let Inuyasha keep it too messy."

"Inuyasha is the one who is messy," he corrected her.

"Well, there are two of us and one of him so he'll just have to keep things clean around here." For the first time since Rin opened her mouth today he finally found something about her to like. "Oh, and I will definitely have to repaint half the house. White is such a boring color."

"This is my house; you will not change it," he threatened her.

She put her hands on her hips and said to him, "Would you rather just kill me and lose your chance to inherit your title as the Emperor?" He didn't want to answer either way in fear that she might actually try to screw things up for him. Maybe she was going to take advantage of him after all. "That's what I thought. There will definitely be some changes made around her."

Sesshomaru sat there seething in anger at having to listen to all the crap she was spitting out. It was no wonder he had never gotten himself involved in any relationships; they were too complicated. "Oh," she screeched out loud. She ran out of his room, so he closed the door hoping that would be the last he had to listen to her that day. What had he gotten himself into? She returned back only a couple of minutes later but this time with everyone else in the house. "We have to come up with a story about how we met," she started to count off on her fingers as she went through the list. "How we started dating, our first kiss, and how you proposed. You'll need to come up with a story about how you knew you were in love with me and you knew you wanted to propose."

Inuyasha stood by laughing the whole time as Sesshomaru grew more and more annoyed with Rin and now with Inuyasha. "What are they doing in here then?" he asked blankly.

"They have to be a part of the story, so they need to know what to say in case they are asked. "So, how did we meet?"


	3. I forgot about the honeymoon

Rin grew more and more nervous as they got closer to the capital. It was the largest city in the entire country, and it contained some of the largest structures in the world. She had only been there once on a field trip. In the center of the city was the home of the Emperor. He would conduct business in the front of the house, and the family's quarters were in the back of the house.

She had never seen the Emperor or Empress in real life but only on the TV. The Emperor appeared to be a tall man with a great deal of muscle mass. He didn't look like a dictator, but Rin had been informed that when push came to shove he was a ruthless man if it meant having to protect his territory and the country's peace.

Inuyasha and Kagome sat in the seat facing the back of the limo, and their flirting was frankly getting on Rin's nerves. Sitting next to her was Sesshomaru, who was frankly more interested in the view outside of the vehicle than anything inside of the vehicle. He could tell that Rin was growing nervous, and she certainly had reason to be so. Everyone who met his father was impressed by him the first time, but she was merely a small human in comparison to his demon father. She also seemed to be doing the worrying for the both of them about how they were going to carry out their scheme.

The limo pulled up to the front drive of the large house, so Rin looked out the window to admire the sheer greatness of the building. It was truly an architectural wonder with its brick work and intricate designs. And the size of the building told the world that its occupants were amongst the greatest in the world.

As the limo came to a stop Sesshomaru climbed out first so that he could help Rin out. Inuyasha then followed doing the same for Kagome. They were greeted by the guards at the front door, who opened the grand double doors for them. Once Rin's eyes had adjusted from the bright sun outside to the dimmer lights indoors she could see a massive painting of a dog demon in his full demon form. "That is my father," he pointed out to Rin when he had noticed her marveling over it.

"He is quite an impressive demon," she complimented.

He took her hand and placed it under his arm trying to look like he was comfortable letting her get this close to him. When he had touched her bare skin he noticed how his fingers tingled as if in excitement. They walked into the nearby hallway to find the Emperor and the Empress awaiting them. The Empress was holding on to her husband's arm as if it was holding her up. She seemed like a nervous sort of woman, which Rin found to be odd since she always seemed so calm and confident when she was in the newspaper or on TV.

The Emperor held out his hand to shake Rin's. She let go of Sesshomaru's arm and shook his hand while noticing how much larger it was than hers, just like Sesshomaru's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet any woman my son finds worthy enough to bring home." Rin blushed at the compliment out of embarrassment, but Shuichi took it to mean that she was just shy. He then greeted Kagome in the same way as he had Rin.

"They will be serving dinner soon," Izayoi stated once her husband had returned to her side. "I thought we could all enjoy some tea before dinner."

After being greeted by Shuichi, Rin had once again placed her hand on Sesshomaru's arm so that he could lead her throughout the magnificent house. They followed his father and stepmother down the hallway into a sitting room. Rin sat down next to Sesshomaru on one of the couches while Inuyasha and Kagome sat down on another couch. Shuichi and Izayoi sat in chairs opposite the couples.

"So, Rin," Shuichi started. "Please tell us a little more about yourself. We've heard so much about Kagome, but Sesshomaru had never mentioned you before the other day."

Rin's face turned red as she noticed everyone was paying attention to her except for the maid serving the tea. "Well, my name is Rin Arai. I'm a 2nd year student at the university, and I am majoring in botany. I would like to work for a company some day to find more curing properties in plants."

"What about your family? Where did you grow up?" Izayoi asked her gently.

"I have lived in Kyoto my entire life. When I was eight years old my family was killed in a break in, so I spent most of my life in an orphanage." She looked down at the tea cup in her hands afraid to see any disappointment in their faces. An orphan was the furthest thing from an Empress. Izayoi had been a princess of another country, as had Sesshomaru's mother.

Shuichi stole a glance at Sesshomaru only to see that Sesshomaru's expression had not changed. It was rather unlike Sesshomaru to look upon someone with such a humble background so favorably.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Izayoi said trying to alleviate Rin's nerves about the topic. "Please do tell me how it was that you could afford to go to college then?"

"I had perfect grades all through school and had been able to pass the university exams with very high scores. They offered me a full ride scholarship for my tuition, fees, and housing. The rest of the money has come from what was left of my parents' estate."

Shuichi announced in a booming voice, "There will be no need to use your family's estate money now. Now that you will be the Lady of the Western Lands, there will be no need for you to work."

"I still want to work," Rin informed them. "I would hate to waste my college education and given talents. I might not need the money, but I would like to give it back to the orphanage I grew up in."

Izayoi smiled brightly and told Rin, "That sounds like a great idea!" She turned to Shuichi and said to him, "That would also help us with some of our P.R." Rin grimaced at the idea that they would be using her idea to look better themselves, but she was also going to be living off of their wealth so she had no grounds to protest.

A butler came into the room and announced to them all in a distinguished voice, "Dinner is ready to be served, Emperor." He bowed low and then exited the room.

The Emperor was the first to stand and move towards the dinning room. Kagome shot Rin a look of concern as soon as Inuyasha's parents had their backs turned. Rin in turn made a face in return to agree with Kagome. Sesshomaru put his hand on the small of Rin's back and to guide her in the direction they were headed. At the dinner table Shuichi took the head of the table, and Izayoi sat to his right. Inuyasha sat to Izayoi's right with Kagome to his right. Sesshomaru too the seat to the left of Shuichi after seating Rin next to him.

Dinner was an assortment of dishes, many of which were meat since two of the men were dog demons and thereby preferred meat to fruits and vegetables. As they had started to eat Rin heard Shuichi asked her another question, "So how did you and Sesshomaru meet?"

The five of them, that excluding Sesshomaru, had brainstormed for a good hour on what kind of a story to make up since this question was likely to be asked. "I am friends with Inuyasha, and the weekends Sesshomaru left for the capital Inuyasha would invite us over for the night. One night last winter Sesshomaru came home early, and he found me sleeping in his bed. Inuyasha had told me it would be okay because he would wash the sheets and blankets before Sesshomaru got home. I thought he was going to kill me for it, and he certainly was mad. I don't think I was allowed over for another several months."

Shuichi took a sip of his wine and put the glass back as he followed up with the question, "Then how did you end up together?"

"Well, he saw me on campus in the fall. I was being attacked by wolf demons."

Sesshomaru had been instructed to interject at that moment in the story, "I knew that if I didn't save her and she told Inuyasha I would have to explain myself to you. But I had been too late because she died just after I scared off the wolves."

"So he used the Tenseiga to save me," Rin explained. "And I was so grateful to him that I followed him around everywhere hoping to be of some use to him. And I guess I must have finally worn him down because after two months he saved me he finally started listening to me. We spent a lot of time together, and he eventually started talking to me instead of just listening to me." She gave a look like she was reliving the good times even if they never happened. "Then just last week he said that he couldn't live without me and asked me to marry him."

Shuichi had been suspicious of Sesshomaru's fiancée from the moment he had heard of her, but she seemed to be trying hard to make their story sound plausible. What he didn't doubt was the fact that Sesshomaru had likely revived the girl with the Tenseiga to escape his wrath for not doing anything to help one of Inuyasha's friends. In turn she probably had to agree to help him carry out a charade to help him meet his father's expectations. Yet, this woman was exactly the type of girl Sesshomaru needed.

It was then that he decided that he would allow them to keep out their deception. He would not tell a soul that he knew he was being deceived including his beloved Izayoi. But he was not about to let them take this easy. He was would do all he could to force the couple of spend time together in hopes that it would eventually pay off or drive them apart.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Shuichi announced. "Perhaps now would be the best time for us to discuss when to have the wedding."

Sesshomaru said to his father, "Rin will not be allowed out of the dorm until the end of the semester. Perhaps the summer break would be the best time."

"I agree. And don't worry about a thing. Izayoi will make most of the plans with Rin's okay. And I shall arrange the honeymoon." An audible gulp could be heard from Rin's throat. "Is something wrong, Rin?"

"Oh," Rin said now turning beat red from embarrassment. "I just hadn't thought about the honeymoon yet."

"Are you still a virgin?" Izayoi asked. It was kind of a rude question, but she had a right to ask whatever she wanted about anyone's life.

"Yes."

"I guess it will be the first time for both of you then," Shuichi explained. Sesshomaru's face become like stone. He certainly did not appreciate his father's comment in front of all of them.


	4. I'm not sharing a bed with you!

Rin practically collapsed as she finally got through the door to her new home. The paparazzi had been chasing her down for the past week. The day before the wedding Shuichi announced to the media the upcoming marriage of the Lord of the Western Lands. The wedding was thankfully media free or they would have seen how nervous she was now having given her life away to someone who didn't care about her.

But after the wedding day they followed them to the hotel and would not leave the front of the hotel. Since she and Sesshomaru had a suite to share, they didn't have to worry about anyone listening in on them or knowing that they were not even talking to each other. She spent a lot of time sitting in one room watching the TV while he sat in another watching another TV.

The things they said about her were rather horrendous. They criticized the fact that she was orphan and said that wasn't good enough for someone of high rank to be marrying. Then they criticized the fact that she was intending on finishing college. But at the center of all of the controversy was the fact that she was a human and how he had suddenly changed his mind on humans. Most said that the marriage wouldn't even last a year. She didn't like the idea of being married to him, but saying it wouldn't last a year made her want to last longer than that.

Then they finally got the chance to get back home. Well, it had been his home for all of his first degree and the first two-thirds of his second degree. This was her first time being its occupant. But they were all outside of the house making it difficult to get through.

Sesshomaru slammed the door behind him having had enough of their annoying questions. He never gave statements to them unless he called a press conference. But what sight greeted him was even worse. All of Rin's books and suitcases were piled up on the floor of the living room. He was thankful that she hadn't collected too much, but this was still too much to deal with. She would have to give up all the non-essential things.

"Your books can be put on the bookshelves out here in the living room, and your clothes can be put in our closet. But your other things will have to go."

"I don't think so," she informed him as she picked herself off of the floor. "Some of the boxes contain things from my parents."

"Then they can go in the attic." He wasn't about to let her start spreading her things all over his house.

Rin put her hands on her hips and tried to remind him, "When a couple gets married they compromise on how their house will look."

"I don't make compromises."

"You will now. Besides, this place needs a woman's touch or they'll think I'm not living here."

"Your stench will be enough." Rin's face grew red in anger. Every time he opened his mouth it was to insult her for being a human, and frankly that was why he ended up having to get married to her.

She then said to him, "You sure as hell didn't care about me being a human when you made me agree to marrying you."

"Because I had to marry a human."

She walked away and slammed the door to the guest bedroom, so he walked into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. In the meantime the rest of Rin's friends had been hanging out in Inuyasha's room hoping to welcome her home, but the fight that just ensued kept them from making their presence known. "Which one of you is going to talk to her?" Inuyasha asked gruffly.

"Which one of us?" Kagome questioned him harshly. "Why don't you talk to her since she's your sister-in-law now. You're the one who got her involved in this."

"I've got to live with them whether they like each other or not," he informed her. "That's punishment enough."

Before any of them could say anything more the door was yanked open by Rin herself. "Bring your worst set of clothes with you tomorrow. I could care less about what the Ice Prince thinks. We're going to paint this house some livable shades of color."

"Whoa," Inuyasha said getting up from his seat on his bed. "I ain't getting involved in this. He's my brother, so he thinks he can beat the pulp out of me for anything I do to piss him off."

Rin just sighed and then said to him, "Fine, be a wuss. The rest of you are helping me with getting things cleaned up around here."

The three remaining non-members of this strange family just stared at her and considered their options. They could either take time out of their break to help their friend deal with a crappy situation, or they could get themselves in trouble with the Ice Prince. Figuring that Rin was probably right in how she was going about making the lie look more reasonable, they all agreed to help her.

That night Sesshomaru finally came out of his room when he noticed that Rin hadn't been in to at least put her clothes away. When he did find her she was setting up the guest room to live in. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Setting up my room," she answered him. She put a shirt on a hanger as she said to him, "You said you wanted me to put my stuff away."

Sesshomaru mentally rolled his eyes and corrected her, "I said you were to put them in our room."

Rin stared him down as she asked, "Our room?"

"Aren't you always telling me what married couples do?" She shook her head in a sarcastic gesture. "Married couples share rooms. And the cleaning lady will know that you are not sharing a room with me if all of your things are in here."

"Fine," she huffed as she started tossing her clothes still on the hanger back into the suitcase. Awkwardly she dragged the overflowing suitcase out of the room and down the hallway to his room without his help since he had gone to the kitchen to fix himself something to eat since he had missed dinner. When he came back in she was finished putting her clothes in the closet and was currently trying to change the sheets on his bed. "Why are you changing the sheets. I had them changed before we left for the wedding."

"That would have been nice to know earlier," she said as she struggled with one of the corners of the fitting sheet. For some reason his sheets were almost too small for the bed since they hugged the bed so tightly. "Will you at least help me since you're here?"

"That is not my job," he corrected her as he grabbed a shirt and a pair of sleeping pants out of his one remaining drawer in the dresser.

Rin threw up her hands in exhaustion only to lose the progress she had made on getting the fitted sheet stretched far enough to fit on. Another five minutes of tugged led to the fitted sheet getting on, which made the regular sheets a breeze to put on. As a final touch she set up the comforter on the floor with a couple of folded sheets to be used as his bed.

Sesshomaru reentered the room when he was quite sure she was finished. It was now midnight, and despite being a demon with an extraordinary ability to only need four to five hours of sleep a night, he was actually very tired. He attributed most of the exhaustion to the airplane flight. He never had trouble flying using his abilities, the but machines humans had to use to fly only reeked havoc with a demon's senses.

Rin had also changed into her pajama's, which were a mismatched t-shirt and pair of running shorts. She was already sprawled out on the bed with a sheet covering her as if she were trying to hide something from him. "Move over," he commanded her.

She looked up at him and fired back, "You can sleep on the floor. You're the demon."

"This is my room."

"Our room. If you remember right, you were the one who dragged me into this fake marriage." She was going to stay in the bed if it killed her...again.

"Married couples share beds together," he informed her waiting to see how she would react.

She rolled over so she didn't have to face him. "Married couples also love each other, and they respect each other." He gave up trying to fight with her and laid down next to her making sure not to touch her. This alarmed Rin, who shot up in the bed. "I didn't think you were actually serious." He didn't answer her but laid there hoping for once she would shut up and go to sleep. Rin waited a minute before giving up on him and lying back down. This was going to be a long night.

He left early the next morning for the capital actually happy about having to give up his break to do some work for his father. His human wife was quite the troublesome creature. But he certainly hadn't expected her to do all she had done during the week he had been gone.

The living room was now a burgundy red color, the dining room was a deep purple shade, and the guest bedroom was a shade of green. She hadn't painted their room, but it was clear now that she had moved in because it was feminine with all of the decorations. Heck, all of the house had some feminine decoration to it. Why couldn't she just leave things be?

As Rin came home from class she found Sesshomaru none too pleased. "I guess you ruined the surprise," she said to him trying to act innocent. "It looks much better now. Even your father agreed. Well, what your father saw of it from the pictures I sent him."

"My father knows about this?" he asked rather stunned. If his father had known he would have likely said something.

"Well, you know..." she said coyly. "He did give me permission to paint the house."

Now that just ruined Sesshomaru's argument to change things back. As soon as he would change things back his father would realize that they weren't getting along like all newlyweds did.


	5. I hate biology classes

For most of the school year they managed to successfully avoid each other. When she was home he would spend time in the library, and when he was home she would spend her time in Kagome and Sango's dorm room. Sesshomaru actually found himself going home on the weekends more to escape her, which did not escape Shuichi's notice.

But one winter night Sesshomaru came home late to find Rin still awake. Inuyasha seemed clueless as to what to do for her because she was crying. All he could do was stare at her himself. Inuyasha, though, found this the perfect time to escape to the safety of his room. She looked up at him through tear streaked eyes and then away from him. This was the last way she wanted him to see her: weak and pathetic.

"I'm sorry. I'm keeping you from getting sleep," she said to him as she started to leave the room.

One of his hands reached out for her wrist as he held her there. "What are you hiding from me?"

"I'm not hiding anything." She tried to take her arm back from him but he held on tightly. "Don't you worry. You'll be happy to know that I won't be here for the rest of the school year starting tomorrow."

"Why?" he questioned her. She had been so adamant on finishing graduating that it seemed so unlike her to suddenly contradict it.

She pointed to a piece of crumpled paper sitting on his desk. "Izayoi said I can move in with them for the remaining three months until you can join me again." She finally managed to jerk her arm away as she left for the comfort of the patio.

Sesshomaru picked up the piece of paper and read the note. The handwriting was almost illegible, but it was clear that the writer's intention was to scare her. He knew his father would still be awake so he picked up the phone and dialed home. "You certainly got home late tonight," Shuichi commented dryly.

"I had some research to do at the library," Sesshomaru lied. "But right now that's not important. Why have you agreed to allow Rin to stay with you? You know as well as I do that it's more important for her to finish her degree than it is for me to finish my second degree."

"You should know that I was dead set against it, but she had convinced Izayoi that she would be feel like she ruined your life if she kept you from finishing school. She also used this crap about how she wouldn't need to finish her degree since she won't be able to work either."

"I can't understand why she thinks I'm not going to protect her," he explained in exacerbation.

"Probably because you don't spend any time with her."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" he asked defensively. Great! Now he was starting to sound like Inuyasha.

"You're here every weekend and at the library late at night. It seems that you have left the protection of your wife to your brother."

Sesshomaru boiled over in anger at being caught in his own web of deceit. "I will work with the university to allow both of us to finish our degrees, and I won't need any help from you." He slammed down the phone fully knowing that his father found it to be disrespectful. But in all reality Shuichi had hoped it was a sign that Sesshomaru would actually try and do something for Rin.

He found Rin sitting out on the patio in the darkness. She didn't have night vision like he did, so he was easily able to see that she had been scared by the sound of his approach. He stood right in front of her as he announced to her, "I will talk to the university tomorrow about arranging for a way for the both of us to finish the year. We are both only three months away from graduation, and there is no reason to quit school. If I have to, I will personally accompany you to class."

"Why do they hate me?" she asked him meekly.

He knelt before her so she could see him in the poor lighting. "It is not you that they feel threatened by. You are a human, and that means that the emperor after me will be a half-demon. They are trying to preserve the species."

"The words in that letter..."

"I vowed to you on our wedding day that I would protect you."

"You also vowed that you would love, honor, and cherish me." Her voice was so void of any emotion that he found it very disconcerting.

He picked her up out of the chair bridal style and carried her back to their bedroom, where he set her gently upon their bed. "It's best that you get some sleep tonight." He left her in the room so that the both of them could get ready for bed. When he got back into the room five minutes later she was curled up into the fetal position with the covers tucked under he chin by the fists. He climbed in besides her and pulled the sheets away from her so that he could lie right next to her and to pull her close to his body. She draped her left around around his waist and held onto him tightly as if she was afraid he would suddenly leave her. He stayed awake just until she fell asleep before drifting off himself.

The next morning she woke up finding herself still in his embrace. At some point in the night she had turned over, but he had never let go of her. For the first time since they had been married she actually felt comfortable around him. As she turned over she got a good look at his face. He looked so peaceful when he slept, almost like he wasn't trying to hide who he really was. She reached out her index finger and gently traced the stripes on the cheek that was exposed and the crescent moon on his forehead. He truly was a handsome sight to behold, and strangely enough he belonged to her.

When Sesshomaru did open his eyes he stared straight into Rin's eyes. She didn't seem frightened or angry at him as she always was. "We should go to campus today and talk with the administration. I want to go with you to your classes." Rin didn't know what to say. This was going to mean that he would have to spend more time with her, something he had been trying to avoid lately. "I will not allow you to quit school on account of me." There was something hidden in his voice; a deep emotion that was being held back from her detection. Somewhere inside of him he felt a possessiveness of her, of his wife. No one would touch something that rightfully belonged to him.

He reluctantly let go of Rin and prepared himself to go out in public. After Rin had gotten herself cleaned up she put on her winter coat and slung her bag over her shoulder. Sesshomaru followed suit and lead her towards the administrative building. She tried to stay near his side, but she found herself wanting to fall just behind him since she knew how proud of a man he was. As they got to the building they were immediately given clearance to speak with the president of the university. The president was a rather portly badger demon many years older than even Shuichi. "How may I help you, Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Rin?" he asked bowing slightly from the waist. He rushed to the other side of his desk as he offered them both seats.

Sesshomaru pulled out the note from his bag and handed it to President Sato, who looked it over quickly and then commented, "Oh, my! Do the authorities know about this?"

"I would rather keep it out of the public eye. But as you can see I cannot leave Rin unaccompanied on campus, so I would like permission to sit in on her classes."

"And what about your classes?"

"I would also for her to also sit in on those if I cannot get my brother to take care of her protection."

President Sato turned his attention to his computer as he pulled up their school schedules. "I think we can arrange for that. I will personally contact the heads of your departments and have them explain that you shall be attending each other's classes. I will give no specifics though."

Sesshomaru nodded his head and stated, "That is all I ask for." He stood up and put his bag back on his shoulder before reaching out his hand so as to shake President Sato's hand. "Good day to you, then." President Sato shook his hand and then escorted the young couple out of the room.

Sesshomaru took off for Rin's first class. He had made sure at the beginning of the semester to make sure he didn't have class at the same time as Rin so as to avoid her. Thanks to his planning he had now made it possible for the both of them to go to class together. Once they got to the biology building Rin took the lead. As they entered the room those already there noticed the visitor immediately as someone of great importance. Rin most often went unnoticed by them, but Sesshomaru was an entirely different person.

The entire room grew silent, which made Rin blush as she realized they were all intent on watching her and her husband. She grabbed her usual seat in the middle of the room two seats in, so Sesshomaru took the seat next to the aisle. He was not too fond of biology, especially botany, but he figured that he had three months of sitting in on her classes so he would just have to deal with it.

Slowly the other students started back with their conversations, but Rin felt no need to converse with Sesshomaru since it would only draw more attention. Besides, they never really had anything to say to each other. When the professor entered the room he nodded to the young couple but said not a word to them.

When class started Sesshomaru lost himself to his thoughts. How would he figure out the person's identity? The letter came in an unmarked envelope that had been mailed here on campus, but with 50,000 students and 25,000 employees it would be impossible to figure out who could have possibly mailed the letter. There were also another 60,000 people who lived in the town adjacent to the campus, and any one of them could have come to campus to mail it.

The questions would stay fresh in his mind since the letters started coming in nearly every few days. Each letter was more graphic than the others. Most described ways in which they would slowly torture her and eventually kill her. The torture ranged from rape to cutting her apart piece by piece. But every time Sesshomaru found a letter he would hide it from Rin's view because the last thing he wanted to do was make her more upset.

And yet despite of being thrown together, they seemed to get along better than they had before. For the most part they didn't have much to say to each other, but when Sesshomaru needed to make a decision regarding the both of them she would try to rationally discuss it with him instead of always stonewalling him.

Part of the change was Rin's understanding that she needed Sesshomaru now in order to survive, and he really was trying to do the best to protect her. She knew he was bored in her classes because she was just as bored in his political science classes, but she just tried to find ways to alleviate things in the meantime. She also suspected that he was hiding more letters from her because she never saw one but he would become even more protective every few days.

About a month before graduation she found herself becoming very bored with one of his political science classes. The classes were most often designed towards becoming local or state officials, but this particular one was designed on how to be an adviser to the emperor. Sesshomaru could pretty much teach the class since he was to become the future emperor, but he had told her before that it would look better if he attended such classes as it would make people feel confident that he would know what to look for when the time came for him to pick his advisors.

After class Sesshomaru felt the need to approach his professor about something that he had not agreed with. As the minutes rolled by Rin noticed that she needed to be heading to her next class soon. She hated to interrupt him, but today they were to have a lab that she needed to get to class early to prepare for. "Sesshomaru," she said quietly trying to get his attention. "Sesshomaru, I need to get to my lab soon."

He heard her and then apologized to the professor, "I'm sorry, but Lady Rin needs to get to her class now. I would like to discuss this in more detail with you another time."

The professor, a rather evil looking spider demon, agreed with him, "I would hate to keep the Lady Rin from getting to her class on time. I know how important it is for you to protect her. After all, one day those breasts will nurse a future emperor." Immediately alarm bells went off in Sesshomaru's head. President Sato had promised not to explain Sesshomaru's need to protect Rin. More importantly though, the letters had once detailed what they would do to Rin's breasts to keep her from nursing the future bastard half-demon emperor.

Sesshomaru's fingers on his right hand wrapped about the professor's neck. A short scream erupted from Rin's lips since the sudden movement had startled her. When her brain had processed what had happened she could see Sesshomaru holding the professor off of the ground while the fingers pressed against the spider demon's neck glowed a neon green color. The demon was flung across the room into a number of desks where he lay motionless for a few seconds.

When the demon had gained back his conscientiousness he lunged after Rin since he knew he had been found out. Sesshomaru was able to stop him before the spider could even lay a finger on a hair of Rin's head. "What did you think you would get from destroying her? If you wanted to challenge me, it would have been better for you to challenge me directly instead of threatening her. She belongs to me, and I will not allow anyone to harm something that belongs to me!"

Rin didn't know if she should feel upset that Sesshomaru thought of her as only a possession or if that was a compliment to her. But what she did know was that she needed to stay out of Sesshomaru's way by staying behind him at that moment so he could act as a shield. "She is a human. The monarchy will be destroyed by her weak blood," the spider demon spat back.

"Any children of mine with human blood in them will still be stronger than the next strongest demon to me. Even Inuyasha is not entirely worthless." He normally wouldn't give Inuyasha such a compliment, but he had to admit that even Inuyasha could have destroyed this demon without the Tesseiga. The sound of crushing bones made Rin's stomach turn. She gaged as she saw the spider demon's neck contort since the bones no longer head it up.

It was just at that point that the police rushed into the room. Someone had heard the noise in the room and had called for help. As they rushed in Sesshomaru dropped the dead body that now lie in a heap on the floor. The sights and sounds that were taken in by Rin caused her to faint into Sesshomaru's arms.

She had gotten a good rest before waking up in her room again. Sesshomaru held her in his arms as he cuddled her body. He knew not what had come over him since they had gotten home, but he just had to hold onto her. "What happened?" she asked him weakly. Her mouth had a disgusting taste in it, and she was having difficulty getting her body to wake up again.

"You fainted." Her aching head lulled back against his muscular chest. "I think he was acting alone, but I cannot be sure. But I can never leave you alone again. When you get a job we'll have to hire a bodyguard for you."

"Oh," she said rather sleepy still. Her stomach growled since she had missed dinner time.

The sound did not escape Sesshomaru's hearing, so he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the kitchen before setting her down on the counter. She sat there watching him as he expertly made her a rather nutritious human meal, which surprised her since he normally had his meals made for him. He was actually more talented than she had thought he was.

While she ate he went through the letters that he had stashed in a safe. It looked as if all of the letters had the same illegible handwriting, so he hoped that Rin was out of the clear. Yet he was not about to make that assumption fully, so he determined that he would still need to follow her around campus for that remaining month. Then she would be safely in his father's house where they wouldn't dare try and harm her.


	6. It was fine!

After the graduation ceremony the Emperor and Empress threw a graduation party for not only their sons and daughter-in-law but also all of Inuyasha's friends. It also turned into a semi-engagement party when Inuyasha took Kagome aside after the ceremony and proposed to her. It had actually been quite the scene when Kikyo had walked in on the proposal. Rin heard later from Inuyasha that a cat fight had begun, and strangely enough the usually weaker sister had prevailed. Even if Kikyo had won it wouldn't have mattered since he had finally figured out that she really hadn't been interested in him but in competing with Kagome.

So they all rejoiced at finally being finished with college, and also how they would now all be living in the capital again. Miroku and Sango were to be married in only a month, and he had been promised a position with the advisor on theology. In a country so large there were a number of differing religions that often conflicted with each other disturbing the general peace. Sango had been hired by Sesshomaru to protect Rin as she started her work for a pharmaceutical company. It was agreed upon that Rin would give 90 percent of her salary and all of her health benefits from that company to Sango while the remaining 10 percent went to the orphanage she grew up in.

Because of Rin's background, she was also asked to volunteer some time at the local orphanage to inspire the children to believe they could also grow up to be successful despite their backgrounds. Rin at first had denied their claims citing that becoming the Lady of the Western Lands was not something one could aspire to be, but they explained that they had asked her to talk to the kids because she had finished college despite everything going on in her life and still getting a job when she didn't need to.

At the end of the party Shuichi announced to everyone that he was giving his children special gifts for their graduation. "For Inuyasha's gift I will give him one of the highest positions within my court. He will be instrumental in helping Sesshomaru and I. And I hope one day he can help Sesshomaru until his son becomes old enough to help him." Inuyasha gave a smug look to Sesshomaru as if he had beaten him in a fight. "And to Sesshomaru and Rin I will give a one week vacation to a remote resort in the tropics. I know that you were not able to leave your hotel during your honeymoon because of the media circus, so I hope this will be a better second honeymoon." Rin and Sesshomaru were both speechless. Sure, they had just spent a lot of time together the past three months without an argument, but they had expected things to go back to the way they had been, sans the fighting.

Actually, they didn't have anything more to fight about. Rin no longer needed to explain to him how to behave in order to carry out their deception, and Sesshomaru realized after the whole ordeal that Rin was never an obligation but his wife. He may not have loved her like a husband normally loves a wife, but she had given up her own happiness to help him out, which deserved respect.

Days later they found themselves in the tropics. Sesshomaru never did feel comfortable sitting out in the sun all day doing nothing, but Rin was just happy to be somewhere warm where she could fully relax before the stress of life came back to her. For most of the week Sesshomaru had planned activities for them like whale watching and hiking. At night they would walk on the beach looking up at the stars in the sky they were never able to see at home because of the light pollution.

Their last day after a light lunch Rin went upstairs to change into her bikini. She put her clothes back on over her swimsuit and grabbed her sunscreen. Sesshomaru, who was dressed in a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals, looked very uncomfortable not dressing so formally. He also had a book in his hand. "Are you planning on reading down at the beach?" she questioned him.

"Yes," he answered her simply before exiting the room with her following behind.

At the beach they found they were amongst the only ones there. The rest of the beach bums were too busy enjoying their time to realize who was amongst their midsts. Rin stripped down to her bikini in front of Sesshomaru. He took immediate notice to the fine shaped curves of her body that she had done well to hide from him up until that point. She noticed him staring at her and blushed out of embarrassment because it was becoming clear to her that she was actually turning him on. "Do you like what you see?" she asked him attempting to sound seductive but failing.

Sesshomaru's mouth opened but he closed it immediately afraid that he might say something that might give way to his sudden passions. "I just think it's not appropriate for you to wear...to be wearing out in public," he lied to cover his tracks. "You are to be the future Empress of the Western Lands."

"No one else notices me," she explained to him as she gestured towards where most of the people on the beach were now sitting. She sat down on her knees next to him on the beach facing him. "Or are you afraid that someone might be attracted to my breastases like the spider demon?" She moved just so slightly to bring attention to that part of her anatomy.

"Breastases?" he said wondering about her stranger pronunciation of the word.

"Yeah, breastases." She laughed heartily at her inside joke he couldn't understand. "When I was in high school," she explained. "I worked as a cashier at a grocery store. One night some guys came into my line and one told the other to go get some chicken breastases because they had forgotten them. Since then I've always called them that." He nodded his head in understanding now. "Why was it that the guy was so interested in my breastsases?" she asked him.

"I don't know," he answered. He figured it was because she was quite stacked for a human woman of such small caliber. He had long noticed them, but now he couldn't help but stare at them like he was a hungry infant.

Rin had noticed the looks he was giving her, and it made her feel good. Guys never did look at her before, and now the most gorgeous man in the whole world was attracted to her. But maybe her attentions to him came out of the fact that since he had saved her life things had definitely changed between the both of them. They had in a way become closer. He had actually shared with her how he felt about someone wanting to harm her, how as her husband he felt this desire to be the one to protect her and please her. No longer did he insult her by calling her a human; he actually saw her as a being just like him with fears and hopes and desires.

Sesshomaru watched out of amusement at how Rin tried to stand up against the waves. For as short as she was, she had no chance against them, but she seemed to be having all the fun in the world trying. He often envied how she could seem to find pleasure in nearly everything. Her life would always be enriched by her outlook.

After half an hour Sesshomaru noticed he hadn't even read through the first page. That was about the time that Rin decided to return back to his side. "Are you ever going to join me?"

"No." He flipped to the next page to make it appear like he was actually reading the book instead of her.

She removed the book from his hands, which came without really much of a struggle. "Come on. It's perfect weather. Come out and enjoy the ocean." She tried to push him to get up, but it was to no avail.

"I'm staying right here," he said as he planted himself to the spot.

Rin then whined, "You could at least pretend to be happy being here." She reached up for his shirt surprising him. "At least sit out here with your shirt off." She tried to pull it off, but he wouldn't allow it. "What are you so afraid of?" she asked him. "I bet you have a very muscular chest that would put all the guys out on the beach to shame."

"I just don't want to." That wouldn't stop Rin though, and after some struggling he started laughing at how stubborn she was. While he was distracted Rin managed to get his shirt off of his back except over his left arm. Instead he grabbed her hands in his large right hand and held them away from him.

"Is there something wrong with your arm?" she asked noticing how tense he was about her getting near it.

His eyes showed fear before going back to their emotionless state. "I don't want you to see it."

"Why not?" she questioned him.

"That's the arm that is damaged." Rin looked at him rather puzzled about what a strong demon like him could mean by damaged. He had always been able to use the left arm like his right arm, and he often had held her close with that arm. What was he truly hiding from her? As if reading her mind he answered, "When I was younger Inuyasha cut it off by accident when we were practicing our sword techniques. The doctors were able to repair it, but there is still a scar."

"Why are you so afraid of showing off your scar?" she asked him, but then the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. He was afraid that she would see him as incomplete, as weak and unable to protect her. She went ahead and moved his shirt sleeve down enough to see the scar. It looked like it had hurt him when it happened because the cut wasn't a clean one. It would have also required reconstructive surgery to repair the blood vessels and nerves. Her hands ran over the surgical scar bumps. "You are certainly braver than I am."

He had been enjoying the feeling of her soft fingers gently running over his skin causing goose bumps to form. Upon her comment he asked her what she meant. "I can't imagine how much it must have hurt," she confessed to him. "And as a young kid that must have been very scary and painful." She put both of her hands around his bicep and ran her thumbs in circular motions on the skin. "I guess that's what makes you such a formidable opponent now." She looked him in the eyes and they stared at each other like that for a good minute before she reassured him, "That's why I trust that you will protect me."

Both of them at that moment realized that things had certainly changed between the both of them. Only months ago they hated each other, and now they trusted each other enough to open themselves up to one another. The sudden look in his eye scared her because she knew that the sexual tension between them was growing. To dispel the moment she stood up and said to him, "Will you please at least step foot in the ocean today?" The smile on her face made him get up and follow her. What had happened to him? Now he was easily ordered about by a human woman, and he felt no shame in it.

He jumped into the water after her and made sure to get his hair entirely wet. When he came up he found Rin trying again to fight the waves to get further out. One of the stronger waves knocked her into Sesshomaru, who easily caught her and held her up against him. Once again they found themselves in a situation where it was difficult to ignore the desire growing between them. Sesshomaru felt her skin underneath of his growing hot just like her breath upon his face. In a matter of seconds his lips crashed into hers in a frenzied desire. They stood there kissing each other like the world around them was crashing.

Once they parted for air he picked her up and speed to their possessions on the beach. They gathered up their few belongings as quickly as they could and he once again carried her to the hotel but at his full demon speed.

He couldn't get the door open fast enough as they started making out again. Everything was dropped by the door and he threw her upon the bed. But as she reached out to touch him he let go of her and bolted up and to a corner of the room. Rin watched him as he paced across the width of the room obviously quite deep in thought. She knew not what to do since it was apparent that he had been desiring her just as much as she had been desiring him.

"We can't do this," he said to her as he stopped his pacing.

She leaned up on her elbows and asked him, "Can't do what?"

"This," he said. "You desire to lose your virginity to someone to loves you, and I don't." Rin just stared at him with her mouth hanging wide open. She knew not what had just come over him. "I can't do this." He went into the bathroom and jumped into a very cold shower. She could hear the thump of his head and forearm hitting the side of the shower as he leaned against the walls. Inside he cursed himself for nearly doing something he couldn't take back. He knew not what love was, but he was sure that what had just come over them was simply lust.

Rin laid back down on the bed and groaned in frustration. Had she done something wrong?

That night they said not a word to each other and did everything they could even avoid looking at each other. The flight home was an even longer trip since they were forced to sit next to each other. So when they got home they immediately went their separate directions. Kagome chased after Rin and asked her, "How was the second honeymoon?"

"It was fine!" Rin said angrily as she slammed the door in Kagome's face.


	7. I give her two thumbs up

"Sesshomaru," Shuichi approached him a few hours after Sesshomaru and Rin had gotten back from their trip. "Can I see you and Rin in my study?"

Sesshomaru, who was still dressed in shorts and a t-shirt looked up from the mountains of reports that had piled up over his vacation. "She won't talk to me." His gaze never left his father's disappointed expression.

"Fine, I'll personally get her." He walked down the long hallway and past his nervous wife to Rin's room. She answered to his thunderous knock and looked out at him like a scared mouse. "I need to speak with you," he informed her. She slipped out from behind the door and followed him silently to where his study was. She had never been in the room before, but she didn't really get a chance to look it over because her eyes immediately met with Sesshomaru's when she walked in the room. He too locked eyes with her and then looked away out of shame.

There was a large desk towards the far wall from the door, but in he middle was a set of couches and a chair that sat at the head of them. Shuichi took his seat in the chair, and the young couple sat on opposite couches making sure not to look in the other's direction. "I'm very disappointed with the both of you," Shuichi's voice boomed in the tall room. "I knew from the beginning that there was no attraction between the both of you, and I know that you got help from Inuyasha and Kagome in plotting out the details needed to fool me." The look on his face showed that he was now being the loving disciplining father.

"I thought that maybe you'd both work things out, and I thought I had finally gotten that chance when I heard what measures Sesshomaru was going through to protect your life, Rin. So when I offered to send you on a second honeymoon, you were to actually use that time as a second honeymoon." Tears started to pour out of Rin's eyes slowly at first but more steadily as he talked. Compassion came over him so he spoke in a normal tone of voice. "What happened to the both of you? There was a picture on the Internet today showing your embracing on the beach, but as soon as you got home you're already fighting and putting everyone in this house on edge."

Rin was crying too hard to say anything coherently, so Sesshomaru answered for you, "It was all a mistake. We let things get too far, and I had to put a stop to them."

Shuichi addressed his son, "When I told you that I wanted you to marry a human woman you loved, I was trying to teach you what love was. But if you won't allow her to love you or you to love her then it defeats the purpose. You cannot hamper things between two people if they are meant to happen."

"I am not in love with her," he informed his father causing Rin to look away. "I couldn't let her make the mistake of giving up herself to someone who doesn't love her."

"I understand that!" she fired back at him. "You just didn't have to be so rude about it. You acted like I was below you."

Now Shuichi fully understood everything happening between the both of them. Neither of them knew what they truly felt for the other. All they did know was that there was attraction between the both of them that neither knew how to control. "I see now. And I guess that there is nothing really I can do for the both of you. This is something the both of you will need to work out together. Ignoring the problem will not fix things between the both of you. I won't interject again unless I think that things need to end between the both of you. I don't want to grant a divorce, but if I have to..." he let the sentence roll on since he was afraid to end it. It was clear that the both of them had a great capacity to love the other, so ending it would only bring more heartache.

Rin wiped the tears from her eyes and walked out of the room not caring how rude it was to just leave this counseling session. She went to Kagome's room and threw herself on Kagome's bed hoping her friend could at least listen to her. Kagome and Izayoi had both been listening at the door in hopes of finding out what wrong with Rin since they both cared deeply for her. Kagome followed behind Rin and closed the door so they could have some privacy. "I'm so sorry, Rin."

Rin let a sob out as the tears flowed out faster than before. "We were starting to connect. And now that his dad will give us a divorce he'll leave me as soon as he can get the paperwork prepared."

"Rin, do you love him?" She put her hands on Rin's back to let her know she was there. Under her hands she could feel Rin's trembling.

Rin calmed herself just enough to say, "I don't know. I don't want to leave him though." Kagome rubbed Rin's back soothingly as she tried to process what little information Rin had given her. Perhaps her friend was falling in love with him and just didn't know it. Only months before she would have happily left him, so something had changed in her heart.

She suggested to Rin, "Why don't you stay in my room tonight. We'll see what he does tomorrow morning." Rin just laid there as sorrow wracked her body.

When Sesshomaru went to bed he had expected to find Rin already asleep. Instead he didn't even see her. He thought to himself, 'Perhaps it is best if she doesn't sleep in here tonight.' He laid down and waited for sleep to overtake him, but after an hour he gave up. His mind wouldn't leave him alone. The couch had been rather empty without her in it last night, and certainly their bed was even more empty without her next to him in his arms. She was his to protect.

His sense of smell lead him to Kagome's room. He knew that if he disturbed Kagome Inuyasha would throw a royal fit, but he just had to get Rin. The door was unlocked and Rin laid closest to the door, so he was able to easily get her out of the bed without disturbing Kagome. He took her back to their room without waking her and wrapped his arms around her body as she laid next to him. He buried his nose in her hair and smelled the sea still in it.

The next morning Rin was woken up by something moving next to her. She opened her bloodshot eyes to see Sesshomaru's face next to hers. How had she gotten into his bed, or how had he gotten into Kagome's bed? He opened his eyes only seconds later and neither knew what to say. Finally Rin found her tongue and asked, "Are you going to divorce me?"

His eyebrows shot upwards in shock. Did she think him so low as to assume he would divorce her now after all they had been through? Didn't she appreciate the fact that he had stopped them from making that big mistake? "You are my wife," he answered her as if all the answers were in one statement. She assumed it to mean that he had every intention of at least trying to get through their problems to bring them back to a point where they could at least get along again.

And slowly things did get back to a semi-comfortable state for the both of them. They had little time for each other, but it didn't seem to bother each of them at first. Yet at Shuichi's urging they decided to spend all Saturday with each other. Rin would attend public events with him acting like the ever loving and doting wife, and in the afternoon he would go with her to play with the kids at the orphanage. And in the evening they would go out for dinner and some sort of activity like a movie or a sporting event.

And things never seemed to phase Rin as being anything out of the ordinary. Then a newspaper article brought her attention to what she was truly doing. They had been out of college only seven months, so she found it difficult to understand how the columnist could made such broad assumptions, but in some way it made her understand that nothing she did was ever out of the view of the public. In essence, she did influence the public even when she never meant to.

The newspaper article simply read:

The Lord and Lady of the Western Lands have only been out of college for seven months now, but what a change it has been for the country. When they were first married it was doubted that such a marriage truly existed or was a stunt of the Emperor Shuichi to make Lord Sesshomaru look more compassionate. Lady Rin was the poster child for a the type of person who would need the most help being an orphan in comparison to being a part of the wealthiest and most powerful family. She did everything she could to thwart the presses, and when she did speak it was to politely ask the media to leave her alone.

But now we can see that perhaps this sham of a marriage was actually real or Lord Sesshomaru has been transformed by this lowly human woman. Seven months they were pictured taking a vacation and openly being affectionate, but since then they have tolled down the affection. Nevertheless, they have been seen all over the country, she being the ever faithful wife who sits by and watches idly as her husband conducts public relations for the aging Emperor.

But don't think for a moment that the Lady Rin is anything but the typical Lady of the Western Lands who is there mostly to look like a trophy wife and to bear the next generation. After nearly a couple years of marriage she has yet to bear Lord Sesshomaru a son much less any child. And as for being the doting wife she has quite the mind of her own. Instead of sitting at home like Empress Izayoi and Princess Kagome, the new wife of Prince Inuyasha, she actually works. But from what I have heard most of her salary actually goes to pay for the salary of her bodyguard, a friend of hers from college, the lovely Sango Ito. And a small portion goes towards the orphanage that raised her for most of her childhood.

But this extraordinary monarch doesn't just stop there. She is known to sport the latest fashions seen in middle class stores instead of the higher end stores that most of the monarchs chose to buy their clothes from. In essence, Lady Rin makes herself like the middle-class women who idolize her so much while snubbing the upper-class ladies who think themselves wholly above her humble roots.

And this giver also spends part of her week serving at the bread line and on Saturday's playing with the children at the local orphanage. But she is never alone at the orphanage as Lord Sesshomaru is often spotted entering with her.

If this is the new face of the monarchy, may the gods bless us all. Not only will she one day bear a future emperor who can understand the needs of humans and demons alike, the children will hopefully also be brought up to understand sexism and classism issues in today's society. So in the worlds of this never humble columnist, I say that today I would give Lady Rin two thumbs up and a warning not to to soften Lord Sesshomaru too much. He is still a demon with a feral rage that made his father and grandfather successful in building their empire and holding the enemy at bay.


	8. What's a divorce?

Sesshomaru slammed his paper down on his desk. Frankly he did agree that Rin was better than Izayoi and Kagome because she didn't need someone to take care of every aspect of her life, but he was frankly tired of everyone attributing his greatness to her. He was always the same, except to her of course, so where did they come off saying that she shouldn't be softening him anymore. Was spending time at the orphanage really making him that much less of a demon?

"I think that was a nice article about Rin," his father commented. "What didn't you like about it?"

"They think I'm getting pathetic."

Shuichi knew he would probably react this way. He certainly wasn't in love with Rin with such a selfish attitude like that. "They think you are becoming more like a civilian because you aren't the high and mighty demon you used to be."

Sesshomaru stood up with a huff and marched out of the room in search of Rin, who was sitting down to eat breakfast on this fine Saturday morning. As she took a bite of her egg on toast and read the paper Sesshomaru marched into the room. "I'm not going with you anymore to the orphanage," he informed her gruffly in front of his stepmother, half-brother, and sister-in-law.

"What?" Rin asked almost chocking on her breakfast. After she finished coughing up the egg that had gone down the wrong tube she asked him again, "What?"

"I'm not going to the orphanage with you again."

She held up the newspaper and pointed to the story. "But they said they were glad you were spending time with the orphans."

"They were mocking me for being a weakling because I visit orphans," he pointed out to her.

"Fine," she said slamming the paper and her hands on the table. "Don't go with me and just disappoint the children."

"They'll get over it," he thundered at her.

Rin stood up and shouted back at him, "That shows how much you know about children." She crossed her arms and huffed before continuing, "But I guess you wouldn't know that since you can't understand what they mean when they write stuff about other people. Geez, you're so selfish!"

"I'm selfish? You're the one throwing the fit instead of understanding the truth."

"Then if we're going by your sense of reasoning, I guess I shouldn't go with you anywhere anymore because it looks like you love me if I spend time with you, and loving me would make you weak. Thank the gods we're not having any children together either since you couldn't show them any love either."

"Why in the hell would I want half-demon children?" he asked her out of his anger. He had thought about having children with Rin a lot in the last few months, but the thought of having half-demon children who were considerably weaker than he truly frightened him.

Rin held back the tears wanting to escape from her eyes. "If you feel that way, fine! Why don't you find yourself a demon wife!" She ran out of the dinning room and down to her room where she locked herself in for the rest of the day until it was nearly time to leave for the orphanage.

The other three people in the room had agreed that it was best that someone accompany Rin on her trip citing that being out with the children might do Rin some good. Kagome gently rapped on the door for a few minutes until Rin opened the door for her. Her hair was a mess and her face was clearly tear stained. What Kagome didn't know was that Sesshomaru's words had cut Rin deep down because she had recently seriously considered discussing the possibility of having children with him some day.

She hadn't really noticed Sesshomaru's parenting skills until the week before. When he had first started coming with her to the orphanage he seemed so unsure of how to behave around the children, but last week she sat there observing how he was teaching the young boys sword fighting techniques. When one of the boys hit him in the knee with the stick he was using as a sword he didn't make a fuss but pretended to be mortally wounded to make the child feel like he was a victor. The old Sesshomaru would have yelled at the child instead of playing along. That was the moment she knew he would be a great father to their children.

"Inuyasha and I thought we might go with you to the orphanage today," Kagome suggested to Rin.

Rin wiped at her still wet face and complained, "I'm a mess today."

Kagome reached in and hugged Rin saying in a soothing voice, "It might do you some good to get out of here for a little bit, and the children will be disappointed not to see either of you."

"I guess you're right," Rin conceded. She pulled away from Kagome's embrace, washed her face, put her hair up in a bun, and changed clothes. "I'm ready now," she announced to the waiting couple. As they walked out to the car Rin asked Kagome, "Are you upset about what they wrote about you in the paper?"

"Not really," Kagome admitted. "It's one guy's opinion. Too bad Sesshomaru can't see that." Rin gave her a weak smile and they got into the limo.

Once at the orphanage the children ran up to Rin and asked where Sesshomaru was. "He couldn't come this week," she explained to them. "But I brought a couple of people with me." She pointed at Inuyasha and said, "This is Sesshomaru's brother, Inuyasha. And this is Inuyasha's wife, Kagome," she said pointing at Kagome. "They wanted to come see you today." The children gathered around the new visitors and started dragging them off to show them around their home.

After spending nearly half a day there Kagome was ready to adopt a child who Inuyasha didn't particularly care for. His name was Shippo, and he was a fox demon. At the age of 8 he was quite a handful because he knew exactly what to say to push Inuyasha's buttons, but he was also very bright and observant. So without any hesitation and only a five minute phone conversation with Shuichi the papers were signed.

The next morning Rin got up and went shopping with Kagome and Sango to look for clothes for Shippo. As they walked Rin talked to Kagome about her problem with Sesshomaru. "I'm wondering if I should even stay. I'm sure Shuichi will give me a divorce if I ask for it since he understands all that I'm going through."

"Are you sure you want to divorce him?" Kagome asked Rin hoping that it was just her over reacting to Sesshomaru like he often does with everything. She had noticed how Sesshomaru's manners had rubbed off on Rin in the same way hers had rubbed off on him. "He was just upset and was running his mouth off to make himself feel good. If you spend a couple more days angry at him he'll come back to you pleading for you to forgive him."

Rin picked through a rack of shirts looking for Shippo's size. The store they went to was well designed in that it had a place for the children to sit and watch TV or play on a slide while the parents shopped for them. "I think he meant it. I really do think he doesn't want half-demon children. And as long as he is with me, he can't have them. But he has to have an heir to the throne, so it's only a matter of time before he gets rid of me for another woman like Shuichi did with Miku. And if I stay with him any longer it will hurt me more to see him leave later on than it does now." The tears started to well up in her eyes, but with people all over the place she couldn't let others know.

Sango put her hand on Rin's shoulder and asked her, "Do you think you're in love with him?" Rin couldn't say anything because she knew her voice would crack so she looked down at the ground and nodded her head. Sango pulled Rin into a hug while Kagome rubbed one of her hands on Rin's back. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. This is supposed to be a joyous time for you, and he's not making it any easier."

The sound of a child running brought their attention back to their surroundings. Kagome looked down to see Shippo standing there. "I'm hungry," he complained.

Rin wiped away the tears with her back turned towards Shippo so he couldn't see it. Kagome squat down to his eye level and said, "Give us just five more minutes and then we can go."

"Okay," he said running away. Kagome gathered everything they had picked out, a good two weeks worth of outfits, and paid for them.

The lady at the counter looked at Kagome and gave her this look like she was trying to figure out where she had seen Kagome before. But Kagome was not nearly as much in the papers since a couple of weeks after her wedding, so the woman didn't seem to notice who she was. Rin and Sango had been trying to get Shippo away from the TV and had succeed just as Kagome was needing people to help her hold the bags. As the woman spotted Rin she called out, "Oh my gods, it's Lady Rin!" The other women in the store looked in Rin's direction. Immediately she, Kagome, and Sango started running with Shippo tucked under Kagome's arm. They managed to hide around a corner of the building as the mob went running past them.

"That was close," Sango breathed out heavily. "Maybe we should go back to your home for lunch."

"Good idea," Kagome agreed.

Rin whined, "It's not fair! I can't go anywhere without being mobbed!"

"I guess that's just part of life when you're famous," Kagome reminded her a little hurt that they had recognized Rin but not her.

"But I don't want to be famous." Before any more words could be said the mob came running back and this time spotted them, so they had to take off running for the car.

Once at home Kagome gave the bags to a couple of maids to have them take the pants to the tailors to have a hole cut out for Shippo's tail. Lunch had been served already, so the ladies and Shippo sat down to the leftovers while Izayoi chose to sit there and talk with them. Izayoi was more than joyful to spend time with her first grandchild, even if he was adopted.

"Maybe you should come live with me and Miroku for a little while until you guys figure this all out," Sango suggested out of the blue. "They say absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Izayoi's attention immediately snapped to Rin. "I don't know," Rin answered her.

"But if you are seriously thinking about asking for a divorce, maybe it is best that you get out now," Kagome then suggested.

Izayoi finally had to ask, "What did I miss?"

Rin banged her head against the table and let it lie there as Kagome explained, "You saw how Sesshomaru reacted to Rin yesterday. So Rin's afraid that he really meant that he only wants full demon children and he's going to divorce her one day to be with a demon woman who can give him full demon children."

Concern for Rin washed over Izayoi. "I'm sure he would never do that," she tried to explain to Rin. "I know he doesn't always understand what happened between his parents and between his father and I, but he has vowed since he was a child that he would never get divorced to be with someone else."

A moan escaped Rin's lips and echoes off of the table. "That means he's only with me because he doesn't want to look like a liar."

Kagome whispered to Izayoi putting her hand up to the side of her mouth closest to Rin, "She's in love with him and he hasn't told her about his feelings yet."

Rin pointed out to Kagome, "I can still hear you!" She lifted her head and said to them, "It was all a mistake in the first place, and I made the unfortunate choice to think he's more than he really is. He's still the same cold, human-hating person he was when we first met."

"That's not true," Izayoi contradicted her. "He's a completely different person now than he was then. Before he met you he wouldn't give up nearly a half a day once a week to spend time with anyone."

"He didn't want to originally. It was all Shuichi's idea." She put her head back down on the table and felt the tears welling up again. Damn her stupid tears!

Sango sat there unsure as to what to say. She had Miroku had their own set of problems, but she was sure that even when he did flirt with other women that he didn't really want to be with any of them. In his mind she was the only one he wanted to catch. "Please just stay with me for a couple of nights so you can get a better hold of the situation. Being here isn't going to help any if you are trying too hard to avoid each other." Rin knew her friend had a point so she agreed.

As the ladies helped Rin pack enough clothes for a month Shippo ran to the study to find Inuyasha. "Dad, can I do something with you?"

"Where's your mother?" Inuyasha asked fully knowing that he would rather be doing anything but work except that Sesshomaru was riding him pretty hard about slacking off lately.

"She's helping Aunt Rin pack her clothes up."

Sesshomaru, who had been trying to do everything he could to ignore Inuyasha today because of all of the ranting and raving about Kagome adopting Shippo, suddenly paid attention to the scene unfolding in front of him. "Why is Aunt Rin packing?" he asked Shippo.

Inuyasha watched carefully to see what Sesshomaru would do in case he might in his anger hurt Shippo. "Mom says that Aunt Rin loves you but you don't want children with her. Aunt Rin said something about a divorce." Shippo turned to Inuyasha and asked, "What's a divorce?"

As Inuyasha tried to explain to Shippo about divorce Sesshomaru was heading down the hallway towards his bedroom. As soon as he opened the door the chattering stop. Sitting on the bed was Rin with tears streaking down her face while the other ladies were standing around throwing clothes into an open suitcase. Izayoi asked the other two women who didn't belong in the conversation to accompany her to the study to talk with Shuichi. Before they left the room Sango whispered to Rin, "I'll be outside in case you need someone to protect you." Rin nodded her head just slightly to show that she understood.

Sango shut the door behind her leaving a seething Sesshomaru alone with the upset Rin. "You want a divorce?"

"I don't know," she said to him without even looking at him. If she had looked at him she would have seen the sadness his face expressed. His tone showed his anger, but his body language clearly showed that he was sad and frightened.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know. Maybe when you finally noticed months from now that I'm not here anymore." She touched one of her shirts that was half in the suitcase and half out. The material was soft and comforting under her fingers. "It was bound to happen eventually. One day you would have left me for a demon."

He walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders hoping to make her look him in the face. "Why would you think I would take a demon into my bed if I'm still married to you?"

"Because your father left your mother for another woman." At this point she looked up at him, but the anger in his voice was now showing in his face. The last thing he wanted people to do was compare him to his father in regards to marriage. "And because I can't give you what you need."

"What do I need?" He drew out the word 'need'.

"An heir. A full blooded demon heir. And all I can give you is a half-demon."

"I was going to fix that."

Rin pulled away from his grasp and got off of the bed from the other side to keep him away from her. If he held her to him again she might just collapse into his embrace. "You can't fix something like that unless you were planning on creating a full demon child with someone while expecting me to just watch you screw someone else!" The anger inside of her rose. They had fought before, but she had never been this truly mad at him.

"I wasn't going to be with someone else. There is a special jewel out there called the Shikon no Tama that the finder can make a wish on. I was going to turn you into a demon."

"What kind of an idea is that? Turning me into something else all for the sake of your pride?"

"You don't understand, Rin. I have to have a demon heir because a half-demon heir will not have the same powers needed to fight. We've been rather peaceful these past four years, but at any time we're bound to have the enemy marching into the country again."

Rin calmed down and realized something. "Then it is better that I leave you. If it's for the safety of the country..."

"But you can be that demon woman," he protested.

"No. I will never be the demon woman you want me to be. Once I lose my humaness I can't be the loving person I am. I've seen what demon blood does to a half-demon. Inuyasha becomes a killing machine when his demon blood goes unchecked. If I become a demon then there is no bounds to what I will do to you and possibly to everyone in your family."

"We can't guarantee that."

"Do you really want to test that? Besides, if you loved me like a husband should, then you wouldn't want to change me." She had him cornered now. If he tried to tell her that he loved her he would have to see that she was right, but if he didn't love her she would walk away. He didn't say a word because he didn't know what to say. Anymore his emotions were too hard to decipher. He had never felt this way about anyone before, so he didn't know how to name it. "That's what I thought," she said angrily. She opened the door to reveal Sango waiting outside with her Hiraikotsu in hand and Shuichi standing nearby. "I'm ready to go as soon as people help me with my luggage."

The two waiting people both went into the room and picked up the bags all the while trying to avoid the defeated demon standing right next to the bed. When Rin had left with Sango, Shuichi came back to find Sesshomaru had not moved. "You better start thinking of a way to make this up to her because just apologizing isn't going to be enough this time." He couldn't see the defeated look on Sesshomaru's face, but the way his son was standing there with shoulders hunched spoke a thousand words.

"I don't think there is a way to make this better. She won't become a demon, and I can't live without demon children." His voice came out slowly and broke towards the end of the speech.

"You are a fool if you love her and don't chase after her! Sometimes there are more important things than conquest." Sometimes Shuichi thought he failed as a father since Sesshomaru often demonstrated a lack in common sense and emotional control. This was one such time.

"I have to go find that jewel," Sesshomaru said determined.

"Have you not heard a word that Rin said to you? She's right, she won't be the same if you make her a demon. Just give up and learn to love her for what she is!" Sesshomaru would have none of it. He was bound and determined to carry out his plan and get things to the way he wanted them to be. As he walked past his father Shuichi called out to him, "I will disinherit you if you leave."

Sesshomaru turned around to face him and pointed out, "Inuyasha is not equipped to take over. We all know that."

"He has better control over his emotions and his actions than you do at this moment." Sesshomaru continued walking down the hallway so Shuichi yelled after him, "Then I wash my hands of you. You are no longer my son from this day forward." Yet that would do nothing to stop Sesshomaru from making the choice he had made.


	9. Oh, what a fool he had been!

Sesshomaru had been gone for one month without word as to his whereabouts. As soon as it was reported that he was missing the media tracked Rin down at Sango and Miroku's house making assumptions that there were marital problems. Sure, there were marital problems, but it was none of their business as to what was going on between them nor to be pestering her friends. So to save the couple any more sleepless nights she moved back into the palace but not back into the bedroom she had shared with Sesshomaru. Shuichi had been strangely silent to Rin in the week and a half she had been back, so she could only wonder what he was thinking about with his son's marriage on the rocks while he was completely missing. Of course Rin also wondered if he knew exactly where Sesshomaru had run off to.

Rin was seated in the lab looking over the plants as they grew in their planters under a sun lamp contemplating everything that happened in the past month when she heard some people outside in the hallway talking about a delivery of flowers often nicknamed the Parrot Flower. Parrot flowers were amongst the world's most rare flowers only growing in a remote part of the country for two months of the year. It must have been quite difficult for the sender to have located a florist willing to come all the way to the capital to deliver them.

Without any thoughts of the flowers belonging to someone she knew in her department since none of their family members lived in that area, someone walked in the with large vase of flowers and put them before Rin. "Who do you suppose sent you the flowers?" the secretary asked her. Rin looked back at Sango who seemed rather confused about the situation also. Sango had always thought it best to accept Rin's packages, even the business ones, in case they contained something meant to harm the Lady of the Western Lands. But never before had Rin been sent flowers, and with Rin's marriage on the rocks it was hard to imagine who could possible send them except for perhaps a stalker. Sango searched through the flowers to look for anything suspicious before having a demon co-worker of Rin's smell for something wrong.

"It seems that everything is okay," Sango announced as she took the card off for Rin to read.

Rin tore open the tiny envelope to get to the note. Inside it read: "Every day without you feels like an eternity. I hope to return to you soon to make amends for everything. Sesshomaru"

The tears that had been threatening to fall from Rin's eyes for the past two weeks now started falling in full force. Sango took the card from her and read it as Rin rested her head in her hand that was leaning against the lab table. "Rin..." Sango started to say. What could she say to make her friend feel any better? Her marriage had always been rather troublesome, but then all of that happened in a the course of two days. And he had been gone for nearly two weeks without talking to her. Did he know what he was putting her through?

"Every time I think things are over...He seems to pull me right back in with words like that. I wish he would make up his mind."

Rin's co-workers had now all stopped to pay attention to Rin. It was considered to be rather off limits to talk about her personal life since it was often splashed all over the TV, magazines, newspapers, and Internet, but today was something different. They were all aware that Lord Sesshomaru had gone missing, and it appeared that this may have something to do with it. "Are you okay?" her boss asked her.

Sango thought it best to pull the woman aside to say, "Rin is going through a rather rough time in her personal life right now, as I'm sure you already know. And with everyone wanting to talk about it I think that has added to the stress. Then there are these flowers...So I was wondering if you could let her go home today. If she's still in a bad mood tomorrow I'll make sure to call you and let you know she won't be coming in."

The boss nodded to her and then walked over to Rin to say, "Go ahead and take off the rest of the day." Rin nodded to her blankly and then left. Sango took the flowers with her as she followed Rin down to her car.

Once at home Sango suggested that Rin go to the family room and wait for her. Meanwhile Sango took the flowers to the study where Inuyasha and Shuichi were hard at work. She set the flowers down on Shuichi's desk. Inuyasha asked her before Shuichi could, "What's up with the flowers?"

She pick the card out of the holder and handed it to Shuichi. He read the card and then placed it on the desk. "Where's Rin?"

"In the living room," Sango answered him.

Shuichi sighed, "This couldn't have come at a worse time."

"Why? What's going on?" Sango asked him.

"The enemy just invaded our northern border."

"What can I do?" Rin asked nervously from the doorway. No one knew that she was standing there.

Shuichi was rather proud that Rin was stepping up instead of wallowing in her misery. "I would like you to take a leave of absence from work. We will be taking in a number of advisors to help with the 24 hours planning, so Izayoi will need plenty of help with arranging for their needs. Besides, this would be a great learning experience for you and Kagome depending upon which one of you will some day become empress."

"I'll do what I can even if I am to never be empress," she assured him.

Half way across the world Sesshomaru was flying through a mountainous region. He was wondering if the flowers he had sent to Rin had finally reached her. It was difficult to find someone to ship the flowers so far, but he was determined to make sure she got them. He knew how much she loved flowers, being a botanist and all, so as soon as he saw the beautiful flowers he knew she needed to enjoy their beauty also.

He had been thinking a lot about her lately. Well, he thought about her every minute of every day since she left him. She was even in his dreams. And he would be seeing her soon because he finally possessed the Shikon no Tama. But the sun was starting to set, and soon he would have to rest. He knew his mother lived within the region, and it had been ten years since he last visited her. Perhaps she would be grateful if he were to stop in.

And indeed she was very grateful to see him. It was now nearly ten in the evening and she had just finished hosting a dinner party. "Sesshomaru, I am so glad to see you," she gushed in front of her guests as they were leaving. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home preparing for the war?"

He didn't want to embarrass himself or her in front of her guests so he just said, "I'm heading back now. I think I should have enough time to get home before it gets too serious. Our armies in that region are amongst the strongest." He knew not what region of the country, but in fact he was correct in that the armies in the north were the strongest.

The guests left them and he and Miki sat down in the sitting room. She had quite a fabulous house, which he knew not how she achieved since his father had sent her away with just enough to live off of for a year. He often suspected that she would con men out of their money with her looks and charm. "You had no idea about the war, did you?" she asked him harshly.

Sesshomaru remembered exactly why it was that he never visited her. She had only come to visit him a few time since his father divorced her, and she was never the matronly type. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he knew that Rin would be a good mother to their children, she was the complete opposite of his own mother.

"No, I was in search of the Shikon no Tama," he informed her. "I'm sure you already know I am married to a human." He felt the bulge of the small jewel in his breast pocket of his button down shirt to assure himself that it was still there.

"I have been reading about that disgusting creature you married. And frankly I was delighted to hear that you were considering divorce."

"I am not considering divorce," he warned her. "As soon as I get home I will turn her into a demon."

"That is good to hear," she said cheerfully. "I always thought you would be better off with a demon woman. They are of better breeding and are more shrewd. That human woman who calls herself the empress has made your father weak just like that wife of yours has." She smiled a rather prideful smile. "Together you can destroy all of the humans when you become emperor."

Inside his head Rin's words repeated, "I will never be the demon woman you want me to be. Once I lose my humaness I can't be the loving person I am. I've seen what demon blood does to a half-demon. Inuyasha becomes a killing machine when his demon blood goes unchecked. If I become a demon then there is no bounds to what I will do to you and possibly to everyone in your family."

Just now listening to his mother he finally understood what she meant. Oh, what a fool he had been! He would leave at first light to make the two week journey home in hopes of reconciling with Rin.

--

Note: Parrot flowers do exist. Their scientific name is Impatiens psttacina, and they only grow in parts of Thailand, Burma, one district of India during the months of October and November. They are so rare that the exporting of the flower and its seeds has been banned by the Thai government. I got my information from Wikipedia.


	10. Did you see that pink light?

The fighting had gotten much worse as the weeks stretched on. In two weeks it had gone from the border to practically at their back door. The city had been evacuated except for those in the palace. Shuichi had thought about sending the women away also, but Inuyasha had insisted that he be there to protect his mother and his wife even if he was more than willing to send away his newly adopted son. Rin would not leave though. She was bound and determined to stay and help Izayoi and Kagome with taking care of the advisors who were staying with them.

Tonight Rin was seriously rethinking not listening to Shuichi. The fighting had actually come to their front door. As the bombs went off in the city the palace shook. Inuyasha escorted the women of the house into the basement. The basement had been built specifically to stand up in case the rest of the house were to be destroyed. Strangely enough it had not been designed to help out Izayoi since the house had actually been built during Shuichi's father's reign.

Izayoi had been through a couple of wars herself, but never had they come this close to the capital as this one had. Kagome was trying her best to be strong for her mother-in-law, who definitely proved today to be a rather weakling. For a former princess this was sure surprising behavior. "Maybe we can think of something else," Rin suggested trying to take all their minds off of the fighting above.

"I hope Inuyasha will be fine up there. He's never really fought in a war before," Kagome explained. Most of his fighting has been done in practice or tournaments."

"You have all seen what Shuichi looks like in his full demon form. I'm sure he will keep the enemy away. It's not like they have to worry about not smashing the buildings since the bombs are already destroying enough."

"Can we talk about something else?" Rin asked impatiently.

Kagome smiled and said, "I bet you're hoping that Sesshomaru was home right now."

"No," she said shaking her head. "Actually, I hadn't even thought of him since I got the flowers." Both women gave her a look like they didn't believe her. "Really, I haven't. I've been so busy with the war going on I haven't really had time to even think about myself."

"It would have been better if he hadn't run off," Izayoi commented. "He has proven himself to be an even stronger demon than Shuichi; just as Shuichi was a stronger demon than his father."

"And his son will probably be stronger," she said letting her words drift off into the air. "I suppose though, that when he becomes emperor I will have to leave the country. It is likely that she will not be happy to know I still exist."

"I don't think that's what you have to worry about," Kagome tried to say. "I think he's more likely to turn you into a demon without your permission."

"I don't want to think about it," Rin said frustrated. The other two women thought it best not to say anything since Rin was obviously upset again about Sesshomaru.

They sat there for half an hour listening to the sounds of the advancing army get closer and closer. Rin grew more nervous as the seconds ticked by, but she knew she had to be strong for the other two. Shuichi had once mentioned to her that there was a place for two women to hide in the basement and go undetected even by smell. With only a flashlight she searched for the hidden compartment and found it just as it sounded like people were running over their heads in panic. "Get in," she commanded the both of them.

"Is there enough room for all of us?" Kagome questioned her.

"No," Izayoi answered. "It looks like there is only enough room in there for two of us."

"So the both of you will be hiding in there," she informed them.

Kagome said to Rin, "We can't leave you out here. They'll torture and kill you since you are the Lady of the Western Lands. I'm just a princess, so they'll do a lot less to me."

Rin looked at her friend and understood where she was coming from. "I know that's what you are trying to tell yourself, but I'm really the expendable one here. Besides, you are stronger than I am because of your miko powers, so I need you to protect Izayoi. If they get their hands on her it won't be pretty because she is the empress. I'm not even going to be the lady very long since Sesshomaru has been disinherited and if he continues on the path he's on I'm not going to stay with him. Heck, maybe I'll be lucky and he'll turn me into a demon when they capture me." She meant to make the last sentence sound like a joke but the other two didn't take it that way.

"Rin, I just don't want anything to happen to you," Izayoi said to her worriedly. "Try to keep yourself safe."

"I will," she said as she closed the hatch.

In the dark she waited another twenty minutes before they found here. "You there!" a ghastly boar demon said to her. "Get to your feet!" Rin stood in front of him proudly. He looked her over and said to the other soldiers with him, "Look at what we have here. It's the future empress."

"You are mistaken," she announced to them. "My husband has been disinherited. Even if he hadn't, he would have divorced me sooner than later."

"Then why are you hiding in the basement of the palace, wench?"

"They didn't know I was down here," she lied to them. They looked her over hoping to see the fear in her, but she had learned from Sesshomaru how to hide it well. The leader grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder as they retreated from the castle. Rin would not go willingly though and she pound on the demon's back hoping it would annoy him enough to put her down, but it did no good.

When they got outside Rin could hear nothing but silence. She wondered which side had defeated the other and hoped it had been Shuichi who triumphed. They hadn't made it far from the castle when a large dog jumped in front of them baring its fangs. The men grew frightened and tried to run away, but Rin could hear the sound of bones snapping as the large set of teeth gnashed away at the enemy until all that was left was Rin and the leader.

He dropped her like she was nothing but a sack of potatoes and started to transform himself. Rin had to move as fast as she could despite the pain from the fall. If she had stayed in the same spot she would have been trampled by the other demon. Hiding at a good distance she watched the demons fighting in their large true forms.

As Rin looked at Shuichi in his true form she noticed that he looked even larger than the picture made him out to be. But in the end he defeated the boar demon since he was much larger and fought more skillfully. The dog barked at her having spotted her, so she came closer to it. As she got closer it laid down in front of her and whined. "I'm fine," she assured him. "It did hurt a little when he dropped me, but I managed to stay out of the way."

At that moment another large dog ran up to them with Inuyasha running behind. As Rin looked at them she wondered who it was that had saved her. The dogs barked at each other while Inuyasha came to Rin's side. "Where is Kagome and my mother?" he asked her.

"They're safe in the basement. I let them take me to distract them from the other two."

He nodded his head and then looked up at the two dogs. "I think we've gotten all of the enemy out of the city," he announced to her. "Father and I were taking care of the demons when Sesshomaru showed up."

"Sesshomaru?" Rin asked confused. Her heart started fluttering at the thought that he had returned home. "You saw Sesshomaru?"

He gave her a strange look and asked her, "Did you hit your head or something?"

"No. At least I don't think so."

"I seriously think there is something wrong with you if you can't see him standing there." She looked up at the two dog demons and realized that the one she thought had saved her was actually her husband. That would explain the bizarre way he greeted her because Shuichi wouldn't have done that.

Shuichi suddenly ran off, so Inuyasha chased after him. Sesshomaru, though, turned into a ball of light that landed right in front of Rin before he took on his humanoid form. Rin didn't know what to say to him except, "Thank you for saving me." Part of her wanted to hug him, but the other part of her said to keep her distance from him. It also didn't help that he had his armor on making it impossible for her to get close to him. She stepped back from him afraid of the close distance between them. There was suddenly a strong urge for her to run away from him.

"I missed you."

She looked deep in his eyes and saw that he was bearing his soul to her. "I wish you hadn't left." He pulled something out from his shirt pocket. As she gazed into his open palm she saw a glowing pink orb. "You found it?"

"I did, and I thought I'd wait to be with you when I make my wish."

"Sesshomaru…" she tried to interject but he was already starting to make his wish.

"I wish for peace in this country and from its enemies from this day forward until my descendants no longer rule." A bright pink light erupted from the tiny orb and blinded both of them temporarily. Then a gush of power came forth and penetrated everything within its path as it spread out across the world. And just as suddenly as it started it was over.

It took Rin's eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness again, but when she looked down into his palm she noticed the jewel was now gone. She looked up at him eagerly and asked, "Why did you wish for that?"

His eyes bore into hers as he answered her, "I know that you would want it, and now I don't have to worry if my children will be strong enough to defend themselves since they will have no reason to."

"But I thought you had your heart set on making me a demon."

He placed his hand on her check and caressed it. "I don't want you to be like my mother. You have been the only person to really love me, and I couldn't change that about you. And you would have been unhappy as a demon. Look at my mother. Nothing ever seems to make her happy, and I know now that's why he divorced her."

She placed her hand against his and leaned into it. The touch of his warm hands felt heavenly against her skin. Slowly he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss upon her lips that grew into a heated, passionate kiss. When they separated they stared into each other's eyes as if memorizing the other until the sound of his father in his demon form barking in the distance.

"We should go back home," he said breathlessly to her. She nodded her head not wanting him to release her from the trance he had put her in. He turned around and commanded her to climb onto his back. When she had he ran through the rest of the city so fast her eyes couldn't comprehend what she was seeing and her head started pounding.

Once at home he found the whole household standing within the front hallway. "Welcome back," Shuichi told Sesshomaru. "Did you by chance see a blinding pink light?"

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru's impassive face as he said, "I did. It burst forth when the wish was fulfilled."

"What wish?" he asked noticing that Rin was still a human.

"We shall see soon enough," he promised. "If the enemy has all gone home, then I will know it came true."

"I have received word via cell phone that the enemy did turn around and run home just after the pink light appeared."

Kagome had to ask, "Did you wish for the war to end?"

Rin smiled as she remembered what had happened. "No," she said. "He wished for peace until his last descendant stops sitting on the throne."

Shuichi's face showed that he was very impressed with the wish. "Now that's the best wish I think anyone could come up with."

"Am I allowed to stay with you now?" Sesshomaru asked.

Shuichi laughed and put an arm around his sons' shoulders. As they walked off he said, "I think that it warrants you regaining your title back." The men continued talking as they walked away leaving Rin behind with the remaining three.

"Are you going to stay?" Kagome asked her eagerly.

Rin looked up at the corner of her eyes as she thought aloud, "I think he's changing. Perhaps I should give him another chance. I think he might just love me after all."


	11. I miss you

That night Sesshomaru left again for what used to be the war zone. He wasn't supposed to return until the reconstruction was finished. In the meantime Rin kept herself just as busy cleaning up refuse and learning how to build houses. She would also spend time at the bread line giving food to people who were still homeless as the construction was going on.

The construction in the country finished much quicker than in the capital since the part of the country war ravaged was not as well populated. Sesshomaru came home to find his wife had been spending the nights at Sango's house. He hadn't spent a month and a half with her while he searched for the jewel, and now he hadn't seen her in three months while the reconstruction was going on.

After a couple of days he called her from his desk in the evening as most of the humans were getting ready for bed. At the time he was the only one in the study. "When are you going to come home?" he asked her sounding desperate to see her.

"I don't know. There's so much to do," she answered him. She was lying on her back on her bed with the phone pressed up against her ear. "I miss you though," she said sorrowfully.

"I miss you too," he said with sorrow also in his voice. "Life seems so empty when I don't see you."

Rin smiled as her heart started beating wildly. She felt kind of like a teenager in puppy love. "I wish I was there too, but this is my responsibility. And you're busy also with your responsibilities."

"My first responsibility is to you." He didn't know why he sounded so sappy at the moment except that he knew it made her feel better.

"I'm just one person, and there are hundreds of people out there needing help."

"You're the only one that matters to me." Rin giggled on the other side of the phone letting him know that he had pleased her. "I promise that when you come home we will spend a whole day together."

"That may be hard since I'm supposed to return back to work as soon as they open back up in a couple of weeks."

"Then save the first open Saturday for me."

"I plan on it." She turned over onto her stomach and plopped her self up with her elbows. "I can't wait to see you again. Maybe this time he can actually start taking our relationship to the next level."

Sesshomaru had seriously been thinking about how he was going to tell her the words that would forever seal their fate, but he had been coached well enough to know that he had to do it in just the right way to make it romantic for her. "I can't wait to either." Just then Shuichi entered the room. "I think I ought to let you get some sleep," he said in his usual stoic voice.

Rin knew that when he changed tones it was usually meant to hide something from someone else. "Is Inuyasha in the room now?"

"No."

"Your father?"

"Yes." His father glanced at him as if knowing what they were suddenly talking about. "Please call me tomorrow and let me know how you are. I just want to make sure you're being taken care of."

"I will call you tomorrow about this time. Maybe tomorrow you can talk to me on the portable phone though so that we can talk privately."

"I will," he promised. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said as she hung up the phone. In her excitement she started dancing in place.

Shuichi watched as Sesshomaru hung up the phone and asked, "Was that Rin?"

"It was." He picked up a stack of papers and set it in front of him.

Shuichi tried to pretend like he was not interested as he asked, "Is she okay?"

"She doesn't know when she will return home though."

"Oh," Shuichi said taking a sip of his sake. "And how are you taking the separation?"

"I'm not a child anymore," he pointed out to his father without even looking at him.

"I'm not saying your a child," his father reprimanded him. "I'm just asking how you are taking being away from your wife for so long."

"I'm fine."

Shuichi took another sip of his sake and sat down in his chair. "That's interesting. I had thought that after all that happened about three months ago that you were in love with her, but I guess I was wrong."

"I never said I didn't love her." He was trying his best not to look at his father in case his father could see in his eyes that he was holding information back. "But that doesn't mean that I can't live without her."

"When I first knew I was in love with Izayoi I couldn't go more than a day without seeing her. It was like I wasn't complete without her." He reminisced about the days he and Izayoi carried on their affair. "But you wouldn't understand that. And I suppose it was she who was calling you."

"You aren't going to go back to your work until I answer you, are you?" He turned around and gave his father an annoyed look which was only met with a blank face. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Shuichi got up and sat down in a couch in the middle of the room. "Do you love her, or you still playing with her?" His voice was harsh as he spoke the last half of the sentence.

Sesshomaru looked down at his desk afraid of his cheeks showing a tint of color as he felt the heat rising to them. "I'm not playing with her emotions."

Shuichi put the sake on a table in front of him before crossing his legs and resting one of his arms on the back of the couch. "After all of these years I had always hoped that some day you would come to me for help with something." He sounded disappointed. "But you seem to be better at being a Lord than I ever was. You're also stronger than me since you were able to defeat me at swords and hand-to-hand combat at a young age. So I guess I hoped that some day you might come to me about being a family man. I had at least proven myself to be superior to you in that field."

Sesshomaru knew his father was laying a guilt trip on him, and he felt like he needed to indulge his father. Getting up from his seat he closed the door to the study and then sat down on the couch across from his father. "I want Inuyasha to hear nothing about this."

"I fully understand," Shuichi assured him.

"I guess it all started with that professor at the university. I don't think we ever got along before then, but when I had something to protect and she came to rely on me we started getting along." He sat there rather stiffly. "And obviously we have plenty of sexual tension between us. And I think she will make a great mother to my children some day."

"Children?" Shuichi questioned him. "Up until I had Inuyasha our family has only produced one male child in every generation. And even now I have only one child for each wife I've had."

"Rin wants at least a couple of children. She did come from a larger family than I."

Shuichi nodded his head as he said, "Ah. I understand now."

"And I can't help but think about her every day. And hell, the last thing I wanted to do was change her into anything besides what she is. I guess that's love."

"I think that's the start of love." Shuichi leaned forward with his legs now spread apart. He gestured as he explained, "Love is something you build up over a long amount of time. It's something really romantic when you first realize you are starting to possess it, but it will not always be so easy. You both will have a lot more days where you'll despise each other, but during those times you need to remember what it is about her that you love."

Sesshomaru nodded understanding full well that his father had been through plenty of that with Izayoi. When Sesshomaru was growing up there were plenty of days that he and Izayoi could be heard screaming and shouting at each other behind closed doors. He had always assumed as a child that his father would divorce again, but it just never happened.

"Have you told her yet?"

Sesshomaru snapped out of his memories and said to his father, "I thought I'd tell her as soon as I got back, but I don't know when I'll see her next. But I know that women like being told in some overly romantic fashion."

Shuichi smile as he bragged, "I know you learned that from your old man."

His smile would soon we wiped off his face when Sesshomaru informed him, "Actually, I've seen it enough on TV and in the movies."

"Uh huh," Shuichi said slowly.

Sesshomaru got up and sat down at his desk again. "I guess I've got plenty of work until then. After all, she is too busy to come back here."

Shuichi put his hand on his son's shoulder as he said to him in a compassionate way, "She wants to be home with you, but she knows that there are plenty of people out there that need her right now. As soon as she feels that she's done her part, she'll be back home and in your arms again." He pat Sesshomaru's shoulder a couple of times and then walked out of the room.


	12. Are you ready?

Rin returned back to work in a couple of weeks on a Wednesday. For the rest of that week she stayed with Sango since she didn't have time to move back in with Sesshomaru since her evenings were still filled with special projects. After the newspaper article and the rumors of marriage problems, Shuichi had thought it best to make her one of the most public faces in the family. Unfortunately that left her little time for her marriage.

But on Saturday she had about enough and packed up her things to take with her back home. The reconstruction was pretty much finished, and the celebration parties were long over. And she pretty much didn't care if people thought she was slacking off at that moment because she had worked harder than anyone besides Sango, who also needed some time off, to help with the reconstruction. If they wanted to lambast her for taking a night off they could because she frankly didn't care anymore.

Sesshomaru was in his study when Shippo came running into the study. He jumped on Sesshomaru's desk and announced, "Aunt Rin's home!" It took all Sesshomaru had to keep from running to find her. "Aren't you going to say 'hi'?"

He looked up at the young fox demon and stated, "Grown ups don't run to see people."

Shippo jumped off the desk and then ran to his father. "Is Uncle Sesshomaru stupid?" he asked Inuyasha, which in turn received a laughing fit from Inuyasha that included him falling to the ground and rolling around on his back. Sesshomaru growled at his brother while Shuichi just rolled his eyes as his sons acted like children while the child acted more like the adult. "He doesn't seem to be happy to see Aunt Rin," Shippo said when Inuyasha had finally regained his composure.

With a huff Sesshomaru got up and walked out of the room to cease the jokes that were to come. As he walked into his room he found her pulling clothes out of her suitcase. She had not noticed him until he was besides her leaning in for a kiss. She had not been used to such affectionate behavior from him so she cautiously kissed him back. When she didn't respond the way that he had hoped for he pulled away from her and walked towards the open balcony doors. Below in the garden there were signs that spring was coming.

Rin knew that he was rather confused as to how to behave around her. He just didn't know how to find a happy medium between not showing affection and suddenly showing affection. "I'm happy to be finally home," she said to him rooted to the spot she was when he kissed her. "I was hoping that if you didn't have too much to do tonight we could spend some time together," she suggested.

He continued staring out at the garden as he informed her, "We were invited to the re-opening of a jazz club downtown. They are inviting only the most influential people."

"Ah." She hated having to go to places like that since they all treated her like she was beneath them. But on the other hand she did enjoy listening to jazz and wanted to get out and have some fun. "That sounds like something we could do tonight."

"I will take you out for dinner before we go to the club," he said to her still in his expressionless voice. "Please be ready to leave at six o'clock." With that said he walked back to the study. Rin looked at the clock and noticed she had five hours to get ready.

At six o'clock Rin was staring at herself in the mirror. She had bought the dress long before the war, so it was probably outdated. As it was, the dress was not from the finest stores in town but came from a typical middle-class fashion district. Still, it flattered her figure and gave her more than enough modesty. To complete the outfit she had Kagome do her hair and make-up. Now she stood in the mirror wondering if Sesshomaru would be pleased with the effort she put into her appearance tonight.

He knocked on the door and called in, "Are you ready?"

She took one more look in the mirror taking in a full view of herself before answering, "Yes."

As he opened the door he got a glimpse of her standing there in her full glory. And while Rin was admiring how dashing he was in his black suit he was also admiring her. He stuttered out, "You look...ravishing." She blushed at his comment and took the arm he offered to her.

All night she kept noticing how he kept staring at her. Of course he always stared at her when she was talking, but he was now looking at her as if he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He also made sure to be as close to her as possible without smothering her but taking the time to touch her skin just so slightly.

At the club he waited until a slower song before asking her to dance with him. She placed her left arm around his shoulder and her right hand in his pressed up against his heart, which she could feel beating wildly. Her head rested against his shoulder and she closed her eyes imaging that the room was empty except for them. She almost missed when he leaned his cheek down so that it rested on her forehead.

Rin opened her eyes and noticed the jealous eyes of the women staring at her and suddenly she started trembling slightly out of nervousness. He noticed her reaction and started rubbing her back while asking, "Is something wrong?"

"No," she lied but felt guilty about immediately. "Okay, maybe."

"Do you want to stop?" he asked with fear in his voice. This had been the first time he had been able to hold her close for a long period of time besides while she slept. The last thing he wanted to do was let go of her.

"No. I just hate how they..." He looked up out of the top of his eyes at the people around them. Most of the women were interested in the both of them. "They hate me. I can see it in their eyes."

"Who cares about them?"

"I just can't help but wonder every time I see them why it is that you stay with me. Sometimes I wonder if you aren't sticking around because you don't want to be like your father and end up divorced."

He held her closer to him knowing that this was the moment he needed to tell her about his feelings for her. "None of them are you, so I could care less about them. You are the only one I've ever wanted to protect. The only one I've ever felt the ability to open up to. And when you're not by my side I can't wait until I can see you again and know that you are safe and happy." Tears of joy were starting to fall from Rin's eyes. "Only you bring out the best in me."

"And the worst," she laughed through her tears.

"Only the best. I am the worst part of me." He stopped moving and took a deep breath. "Rin, I love you with all of my heart and soul. I hope I can be everything you need in a husband."

Rin's tears came out faster as her joy increased. How long had she waited for those words! And there was no better setting for him to tell them! "I love you too," she whispered to him. He kissed her forehead and held onto her as he started to sway to the music again. He didn't care what was going on around him because all he wanted to do that moment was hold her close to him and feel her in his embrace. She belonged to him, and he would make sure he would do everything in his power to keep her at his side for the rest of their lives.


	13. Ah, young love

Note: Okay, I was debating making this story an M rating because of the sexual jokes and innuendos, but then I realized that it's nothing worse that what you see in the PG-13 movies anymore. Besides, if my job has taught me anything about teenagers today is that they start having sex in middle school because I've seen a file for a 12 year old teen parent. So if you can't handle that type of material, please skip this chapter.

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After the club the couple went home. The whole ride home they had been making out like a couple of teenagers. But in the back of her mind she worried about going to the next level. Sure, they were both virgins, so it wasn't hard to believe that he was also somewhat nervous. And indeed he was, but as a guy he was more willing to get to it.

But as he carried her into their room and placed her on the bed he noticed how stiff she had become when he had placed his hands on her bare shoulders as he kissed her. "Are you ready for this?" he asked her huskily.

"No," she answered him honestly in a completely frightened voice. He pulled away from her rather stunned at her answer. This was the same woman who almost had sex with him when they were still unsure of their feelings!

"What's the matter?"

"I'm really nervous about this. I mean we just confessed our feelings for each other. Normally couples wait a little while before getting engaged after saying that and then they have to wait awhile to get married."

He wanted to bang his head on the wall in frustration about now. His loins were telling him to take her, but his heart knew that she needed more time to get used to their changing relationship. "Okay," he said as he seated himself on the edge of the bed. He would need a long cold shower now! "When you are ready we will." She reached out to touch his arm but he got up to take a shower.

As Sesshomaru got out of the shower he found Rin in bed already under the covers but curled up in the fetal position, something she did when she was really upset. He knew she felt bad about not being able to please him, so all of the anger left in him ebbed away as he approached her. He spooned her while placing chaste kisses on her neck. "I love you, Rin," he whispered to her hoping to calm her. "I will wait until you are truly ready for me."

She shook out of pent up emotions and said to him, "I'm so sorry. I really do love you, Sesshomaru."

"I know," he whispered into her ear. "Just get some sleep." His voice was so gentle that she wanted to kick herself even harder, but at this point there was no way to rectify the situation tonight.

The next morning Sesshomaru got out of bed long before Rin woke up. When she did get up she found herself wondering what kind of a mood he would be in today. And things got even worse when he didn't show up for breakfast with the rest of the family. So after breakfast Rin pulled Kagome aside and explained to her everything that happened the previous night. "I'm sure he's not mad at you," Kagome said trying to comfort her. She really didn't know Sesshomaru, especially since it sounded to her like he acted differently around Rin than around everyone else. "He's probably just sexually frustrated."

"As much as you think that would help, it didn't," Rin said to her disappointed. "How do I get past the nervousness?"

"Well, I just let Inuyasha do all the work and I just enjoyed the ride. After the first twenty times or so you'll start to get a little more brave because you'll know a little better what you need. They'll always get off every time, trust me."

Rin sat there trying not to picture Inuyasha naked. She didn't know why that popped up in her head, but she definitely didn't want it there any longer. "Maybe I should let him try tonight."

"Maybe we should go shopping for lingerie for you," Kagome suggested. "I'll go get Izayoi."

Rin grabbed her friend by the arm as Kagome tried to walk away. "You are not telling her. I don't want everyone to know."

"She won't tell everyone," Kagome promised.

But sure enough Rin was right because Izayoi told Shuichi where they were going and why, and Shuichi asked Inuyasha to try and talk to Sesshomaru to give him some confidence. However that was not what Inuyasha had in mind to do. "So, I hear you aren't getting any sex," Inuyasha announced in front of his father and Miroku. The grin on his face was positively evil. "Couldn't get your woman to have sex with you?"

Shuichi rolled his eyes realizing that perhaps telling Inuyasha had not been the best idea. "Leave him alone. It's hard to get a virgin into bed the first time. They don't know what to expect, and the first time hurts them. Not to mention they all know that they most likely won't orgasm now until you have been with them for a long time."

"Not Kagome," Inuyasha tried to brag. "I pleased her the first time." What he failed to mention was that he had plenty of practice with Kikyo before he married Kagome, but she didn't know that little fact. "I bet you also pleased Sango the first time," he said looking at Miroku.

"Uh," Miroku said scratching the back of his head. The last thing he wanted to do was to look like he was less of a man in front of them. "Yeah." He gave a fake smile and a nervous laugh.

"And if you don't want to be shown up by your younger brother, who already lost his virginity before you, you better work it right. If not she'll be telling Kagome all about it in the morning."

Sesshomaru tried not to listen to Inuyasha, but unfortunately that evening when Rin hit on him he couldn't perform. So the next morning he sat down in the study only to hear, "So, how was it?" coming from his annoying half-brother.

"None of your business!" Sesshomaru growled.

Inuyasha started laughing as he said, "You guys still haven't. You're pathetic." As he kept laughing Sesshomaru left the room and went for a walk to calm himself enough to keep him from killing Inuyasha with his bare hands.

Shuichi thought it was best to step in at that moment. He sat Inuyasha down and explained to him, "Your brother really loves Rin, and the pressure he has to make their first time romantic is enough without you having to make him more nervous."

"Whatever! Even if I didn't try to make him nervous he still couldn't do it. I bet you that in a month they'll still be virgins."

"If I win, you have to refrain from making any jokes or quips at his expense for the next year."

"And if I win I can say to him whatever the hell I want," Inuyasha said shaking his father's hand.

What Shuichi hadn't counted on was the dirty tactics Inuyasha was going to use to help him win the bet. When he wasn't trying to give Sesshomaru performance anxiety he was trying to find ways to make Rin think she had to give Sesshomaru whatever he needed or he would leave her. Other times he would physically interrupt their few moments where they showed any physical affection towards each other.

The time that finally drew the last straw was nearly a month after the bet had been made. Sesshomaru was getting out of the shower when Rin walked in on him. Her face turned red as she saw his excitement. As he leaned in and kissed her his servant Jaken walked in on them. It was well known that Jaken was obsessed with Sesshomaru since he would often do anything he could to be in Sesshomaru's presence, and he even spent a year away because Sesshomaru told him to go somewhere to study the migration patterns of a certain type of bird.

Rin had been grateful that she was still fully dressed, but when Sesshomaru rushed to put a towel around his waist she noticed that Jaken was trying to move around in a way to get a look at Sesshomaru. Within seconds Jaken was thrown on his face in the hallway and locked out. Rin sat down on the bed now sure that the mood had been ruined, which it had. "Is there something about him that I don't know about?" she asked her husband, who was getting dressed.

"Yes, he is gay."

"What was he doing walking into our bathroom?"

Sesshomaru buckled his belt around the waist of his dress pants as he explained, "Inuyasha told him that we were trying to be intimate, so he's been chasing me around trying to find ways to keep us from..."

"So Inuyasha is to blame for this?"

"He's been the culprit in most of our problems. He'll do anything to make us nervous or to interrupt us." He sighed trying to imagine how it could be that his younger brother could get the best of him.

"Don't worry about him. Kagome will know soon enough." And she went in search of Kagome to tell her what had just happened and what Sesshomaru had explained.

Kagome in turn went to the study where the three males were sitting. "Sesshomaru, do you mind if I have a talk with my husband and father-in-law?" He obliged her by leaving and closing the door behind him. "What in the hell are you doing?" she asked Inuyasha as she hit upside the back of the head causing him to fall forward into the desk. "I heard that you were trying to sabotage Sesshomaru's love life?"

"Is that true?" Shuichi asked him.

"Hey, I have a lot riding on this bet!" he informed his father.

Kagome put her hands on her hips and asked, "What bet?"

Shuichi wanted to calm Kagome down so that she wouldn't yell any louder bringing in more people on the bet. He quietly explained to her, "Inuyasha thought that they wouldn't get intimate in a month, so I bet that they could because without any external influences they love each other enough to not let their nerves get in the way. I had been wondering why they hadn't, but now I know that Inuyasha was cheating."

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" she yelled angrily at her husband. "You have ruined something special between the both of them all for the sake of some stupid bet!"

"It's not just any bet. If I win I can say whatever the hell I want to the Ice Lord and Dad can't get involved. And if I lose I have to be nice to him for a year."

"I think that I want Shuichi to win not just because I want them to finally be intimate, but I also want you to be nice to him. He does a good job of tolerating you, so the least you can do is tolerate him."

"Well there's only a couple more days," he pointed out.

"Even if you do win, I'm not going to give you any until they do."

Inuyasha grabbed onto Kagome's arms and shook her as he whined frantically, "But that could be forever!"

"I don't care! You made this situation, and now you'll have to live with it!" She huffed and then left the room upset.

So Inuyasha stayed out of the way for the rest of the week and even got Jaken to leave Sesshomaru alone. Shuichi was starting to worry though because it appeared that the longer Sesshomaru went without showing his love to his wife the more reclusive he became.

But the last day of the bet things finally changed. Sesshomaru and his father were meeting with an advisor late that evening. The advisor was droning on about things that didn't particularly keep Sesshomaru's interest. His legs grew restless as did his mind so at one point he stood up and walked over to the window. The window over looked the garden, and it from it he could see his balcony. As he looked upon the moon soaked scene before him he noticed Rin was sitting on the thick railing of the balcony wearing the lingerie she bought when Kagome took her shopping.

The sight of her in the moonlight and in that skimpy outfit caused an erection. Without much thought he left the room and went out onto the balcony attached to the study. In a single leap he landed on the balcony and held onto Rin who almost fell off when her nerves caused her to jump. He caught her before she was able to fall. "Sesshomaru," she said breathlessly. "I thought you would be getting in later."

As he kissed her his father could see them from the balcony of the study. The other advisors had been interested in knowing why Sesshomaru had suddenly left them, to which Shuichi simply replied, "Ah, young love!"


	14. End

_Ten Years Later_

Sesshomaru stood in front of the palace on a platform in front of a large crowd of spectators and media. His father was swearing him in as the new emperor. As Shuichi got old he realized that he was not enjoying his work as much as he used to. But Sesshomaru had plenty more years before he would too find his work dull. So Shuichi decided that he wanted to retire early and leave everything behind to travel with Izayoi.

But Sesshomaru would not be running the country by himself. He had taught Rin to do much of his work and Inuyasha's, and in time Inuyasha finally found a new sense of responsibility. And in time his sons would help him, not that there was much need since the country was to be at peace in his lifetime.

Sitting in the front row was Miroku, who had just been appointed the Minister of Religious affairs, and Sango. They now had three children: a nine-year-old boy, a five-year-old girl, and a three-year old boy. Sango mostly stayed at home, but she did run a dojo next door to their residence.

Inuyasha and Kagome had also had children over the course of the decade. He was now the proud father of two girls ages six and four. But Sesshomaru would often get his goad by gloating about how Inuyasha had been the first in their family in ten generations to have a girl and then he had another one. Kagome tried to remind him when Sesshomaru would get on his nerves that they did have a son, Shippo. Yet even ten years later Shippo still got on Inuyasha's nerves since he still pointed out the obvious. But now at the age of twenty-one and a recent college graduate he was more mature and ready to work as an advisor to his uncle.

Standing next to Sesshomaru as he was being sworn in was his four children. Rin had first bore him their son Yasuhiro seven years before. Yasuhiro took on most of his father's traits except for the dog ears atop his head just like his brothers following him. Two years after Yasuhiro was born they had another boy they named Kazuhiro. Rin had decided in her heart that she wanted a girl, so they tried again a couple of years later and had another boy, who they named Masuyo. Sesshomaru felt so bad that he had not give her a daughter that time that he promised her that he would try just one more time, and just two years later they had a girl named Eiko. Eiko looked much more like her mother including Rin's chocolate brown eyes and jet black hair. Her only demon heritage seen at such a young age was her claws and dog ears, and when paid close enough attention they could see that she possessed a great amount of strength for a half-demon child her age.

As Sesshomaru listened to his father his mind started wandering off as he thought about how much more appropriate it would have been if Rin was also receiving the blessing. She was just as much a part of him as he was of her, and as his wife she knew her duty to her people, her children, and her husband.

After receiving the blessing and being introduced as Emperor Sesshomaru he turned around and introduced Rin as the Empress of the Western Lands and Yasuhiro as the new Lord of the Western Lands.

The day was filled with parties and many congratulations as they met personally with everyone in attendance. So when the night started to wind down and the children, who were still wound up from all of the day's events, were put to bed the couple now retired to their new bedroom, the master bedroom. Rin turned onto her side and rested her head on his chest. "Are you happy?" she asked him completely content.

He stroked some of the soft strands of her hair between his index finger and thumb as he said, "Almost."

"What more could you want?" she asked him. "You already have a wife you can spend the rest of you life with, four healthy children, and now you rule over the largest country in the world without any fear of being opposed or war."

"I want to make love to the Empress of the Western Lands," he said rubbed her exposed arm. "I hear that she's quite sexy."

Rin chuckled to herself and smiled as she said, "Well, you'll just have to pry her away from the Emperor." She looked up at him and then leaned up to meet him in a kiss. And as he made love to his wife he gave thanks to the gods for giving him a life well fulfilled and yet only half over.

**The End**

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I hope you liked the story.


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